CoMaps project governance docs

Many things here are work in progress, discussions are ongoing and details might change.

Mission (provisional)

Provide easy navigating offline for drivers, hikers, and cyclists, with privacy-focus and open-source, made by and for the community.

Vision (provisional)

A world in which the top choice for navigation software is free and developed through open collaboration.

Core Principles

1. Transparency: all project-related efforts are done in public and available for everyone to see. This includes but, is not limited to decision-making, priorities, goals, financials, communications, contributor involvement, operations, and information such as company expenses, salaries, etc, are accessible and clear to everyone. Where privacy or security is reasonably required, summaries are available for visibility.
2. Community decision-making: the community makes the decisions for this project. People who are impacted by a decision have input into that decision. Decision-making is distributed rather than concentrated with a few people. The community includes anyone working on the project or using the app. People are welcome to join the community, and are empowered to participate.
3. Not-for-profit: the project operates for the public good, focusing on creating value for the community rather than generating profit for shareholders, investors or corporations. When contributors are compensated from project funds, it's proportionate to work performed for the benefit of the project and community, and subject to community approval.
4. Open source: the complete codebase and associated resources are released under Free and Open Source Software licenses, and development happens in an open and transparent way.
5. Privacy-focused: the app does not track people or collect personal data. Opt-in consent is required if it's unavoidable, and this is fully disclosed.
6. Community Funding: the primary method of funding is donations from the community. This doesn't exclude grants, or potential B2B-level products in the future, as long as they adhere to the principles, are approved by the community and don't diminish the free and open nature of the project.
7. Assets for Public Interest: any assets created or acquired are owned by the community and for its benefit. Core assets that constitute project's identity can't be sold, this includes, but is not limited to domains, trademarks, app stores accounts, social media accounts, etc.

Legal entity

At the moment the project doesn't have a legal entity.

The intention is to either incorporate as a not-for-profit foundation or a co-op, or become a part of an established FOSS umbrella (e.g. Software Freedom Conservancy, Software for Public Interest, Commons Conservancy, etc.)

In the interim the Platform 6 Co-op fiscal host is managing CoMaps finances transparently at the CoMaps Open Collective.

Governance structure

The governance structure and decision-making policies are being discussed and also they'll depend on the legal incorporation option chosen.

Its likely there will be some formal body (a board / panel / assembly / council, etc.) based on the following principles:

• members will be elected and rotated
• members should act consistent with immutable project's principles
• being a member of the board will be more about responsibility and serving the project, rather than a privilege
• the board will have limited functions, i.e. ensure the project doesn't diverge from its mission, resolve conflicts, formalize decisions legally when necessary, etc.

Most of day to day decisions will be made by contributors and respective project teams and should take wider community into account.

Accounts

See what digital, financial, etc. accounts the project has and how they're managed: ACCOUNTS

FAQ

Check frequently asked questions about the project, e.g. "What does CoMaps mean?", "How does it relate to Organic Maps?", etc.