Almost all decisions (organizing events, conferences, changes to the website, etc) are made informally by all mailing list participants, regardless of their status in the Fellowship. Some decisions are made by individuals or committees elected by the Fellowship members. For example, the Project Committee allocates funding and oversees ODF projects, and the Discretionary Expenses Committee allocates general funds.

The highest authority is the list of Fellowship members. On rare occasions the Fellowship needs to take an official decision. It might be taking an official position on a recent event, or electing new committee members. These decisions are made by the members as a group. The membership can overturn any existing decision, and it is responsible for any decision that doesn't already have a rule in place.

How does the membership make decisions?

Most decisions are made informally, by consensus. When consensus cannot be reached, we decide by vote. Formal votes are very rare.

How to become a member

New members are approved by the membership the same way it makes other decisions. Generally that means that a new member must be nominated and seconded. If after a few days there are no objections, the member is approved. If you are active on the lists and want to be a member just ask an existing member to nominate you. Current Members

Project Committee

The Project Committee is in charge of allocating funds for the development projects and evaluating their progress.

Non-voting member:
Jean Hollis Weber, Friends of OpenDocument Inc Treasurer (advisor role)

Voting members:

• Daniel Carrera
• David A. Wheeler
• J. David Eisenberg
• Inge Wallin

Discretionary Expenses Committee

The Discretionary Expenses Committee allocates funds from non-targeted donations to general expenses such as materials for displays at conferences and website-related costs. This committee is elected in August to serve a 1-year term.

Voting members 2007-2008

• Jean Hollis Weber
• Lars Noodén
• Russell Ossendryver

Consensus

Consensus is something that is usually defined informally. But the following rules provide a minimum basis for establishing concensus:

• If any member requests a formal vote, then consensus has not been reached, and the decision must be made by vote.
• If a proposal has received at least one vote in favour besides the original poster, and no votes against after one week, consensus has been reached.

Voting process

Formal votes use the Condorcet method with Ranked Pairs. Every member receives a ballot and ranks the choices in order of preference. There is no quorum. The voting period lasts 3 days.

The vote is performed with the Condorcet Internet Voting Service.