THE BYLAWS OF THE LONG ISLAND LINUX USERS GROUP ARTICLE I - NAME OF ORGANIZATION The name of the organization is the Long Island Linux Users Group and may be referred to as such. It may also be referred to as LILUG. ARTICLE II - PURPOSES One primary purpose of LILUG is to promote the use of Linux, Open Source, and free (as in freedom) software among the members of the Long Island community. A second primary purpose is to provide an environment open to all to who wish to learn how to use, and understand free software. ARTICLE III - QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERSHIP Criteria for active membership will be attendance of 1 regular LILUG meeting every 3 months. Exceptions can be made with approval of the president (or acting vice-president) and with two-thirds of the present remaining membership approval at the next regular meeting. ARTICLE IV - MEETINGS LILUG shall meet on a regular basis in a designated meeting place. All meetings will be open to all. Information about the meeting time and place shall be made publicly available. All LILUG business shall be conducted during regular meetings. The president (or vice-president in his/her absence) shall be responsible for presiding over the meeting. A meeting consists of at least two phases: "Old Business", where proposals that have been discussed previously can be enacted by consensus, withdrawn, or voted on. "New Business", where new motions can be brought before LILUG by the presiding officer. A motion can also be brought before LILUG by a petition signed by a number of active members greater than the square root of the total number of active members (rounded down). ARTICLE V - CONDUCTING LILUG BUSINESS LILUG business consists of motions related to: - The creation of new officer positions or committees. - The delegation of power to officers or committees. - The election of officers. - A motion for impeachment proceedings against an officer. - The allocation of LILUG funds. - The amendment of the LILUG constitution. A motion may depend on the passage of a motion currently under consideration. If the prerequisite motion fails to pass, the dependent motion automatically fails. Whenever possible, LILUG business shall be conducted by consensus. Consensus on a motion shall be considered achieved when the proposal is brought up on a LILUG electronic forum one week prior to a regular meeting without any active member objecting or the motion being withdrawn. If consensus cannot be achieved after two meetings, a vote can be called either by the meetings presiding officer or by verbal request of at least half of the active members present. If a vote is called the motion must be decided by the voting process given below. If a vote is not called, the presiding officer may at his or her discretion either carry the motion over to the next meeting or declare the motion dead. ARTICLE VI - OFFICERS LILUG shall have two mandated officers, a president and a vice-president. LILUG may also create new positions as necessary. An election must be treated as LILUG business in accordance with the procedures given above. In the case that a vote is called for, a secret ballot should be taken. Officers will be elected for a term not to exceed one year. They may serve multiple terms. If a post becomes vacant, an election to fill it must be held plausible regular meeting. A motion for impeachment proceedings should be treated as LILUG business. Should the motion pass, a neutral party shall be designated to preside over the meeting until the issue is settled. Both the accusers and the accused shall be given time to explain their cases, and then the issue shall be settled by a super-majority vote, as described below. ARTICLE VII - OFFICERS' DUTIES The president is responsible for planning and running meetings. The vice-president shall assist the president in performing his or her duties. These officers, as well as new positions created in the course of LILUG business, shall be delegated additional powers as necessary to further the LILUG's purpose. ARTICLE VII.I - OTHER OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES LILUG shall designate as an officer a treasurer. The treasurer is responsible for ensuring the club funds are spent as designated by the membership. He is primarily responsible for financial transactions. He is also responsible for a financial summary and disclosure of records at least every other month. LILUG shall designate a secretary. The secretary is responsible for noting attendance, taking minutes, and filling out paperwork as required. The responsibilities of this position may be fulfilled by the members of a secretarial committee. ARTICLE VIII - COMMITTEES LILUG shall have the power to create and delegate power to committees as necessary to further LILUG's purpose. Criteria for membership on a committee shall be set by the motion that creates the committee. ARTICLE IX - VOTING Voting may be used to decide issues facing LILUG. It can also be used to elect officers. Non-super-majority votes are decided using an alternate voting system, with the use of public or secret ballots, as called for by the type of vote. In a vote called for the purpose of electing officers, the secret balloting is used. Public balloting is used otherwise. Super-majority votes are used for deciding impeachment proceedings and for amending constitutional bylaws. In this voting method, greater than 66% of all active members must cast votes in favor of the motion for it to pass. Members may designate a proxy for their vote in the case that they are unable to attend a meeting. Absentee members should be active on the email list and should cast their votes via that list if possible. A signed and authenticated statement must be produced for a proxy vote to be recognized. ARTICLE X - MONEY Club officers shall manage and control all property of the club. LILUG shall not pay, assume or become responsible for the personal or unauthorized debts or liabilities of any individual member of the club. ARTICLE XI - RESTRICTIONS LILUG shall be non-racial, non-partisan and non-sectarian, and shall wholly abstain from any political or labor affiliation or endorsements for any public office. Any illegal acts pertaining to LILUG or conducted in LILUG forums will result in immediate disqualification of membership and removal from all forums. ARTICLE XII - AMENDMENTS Amendments to these bylaws should be treated as LILUG business, as per the rules outlined above. If a vote is taken, it shall be a super-majority vote. END OF BYLAWS CREDITS These bylaws are based in part on the way the Debian project and it's parent organization Software in the Public Interest conduct business. This document was originally written by Tom Rothamel. This document has been revised by Matthew Newhall.