Minutes for CentOS Board of Directors for 2020-06-10

On 2020-06-10 the CentOS Board of Directors met with Chris Wright and Deb Bryant to settle open discussions on the future of the Red Hat Liaison role on the CentOS Board. The Board also welcomed Rich Bowen as an ex-officio member, Thomas Oulevey as the new Board Secretary, and approved Brian Exelbierd as a new member Director and Red Hat Liaison. Additional topics included clarifying that voting does not occur in the new issue tracker, and asking Rich Bowen to lead an open vision and strategy process to refresh the project’s goals.

In support of these efforts, the Board came to the following decisions, resolutions, and agreements:

1. Shall the CentOS Community Architect (Rich Bowen) be permanently added as an ex-officio attendee to all future CentOS Board meetings as a non-voting voice for the wider community?
   1. AGREED Yes, this should be a permanent seat in all Board discussions, public and private.
   2. ACTION Karsten and Rich need to coordinate and make changes to add to governance.
2. Shall Brian Exelbierd be appointed to the CentOS Board as a member Director based on his experience and understanding of the CentOS Project and its many relationships, on his working years as a community architect, and on his performance over the years in the broader CentOS and Fedora Linux communities?
   1. AGREED Yes, Brian Exelbierd (bex) is hereby welcomed to the Board as a full voting Director.
   2. ACTION Rich to change the website to reflect this addition.
3. Does the Board accept Red Hat’s change of the Red Hat Liaison role from Karsten Wade to Brian Exelbierd, who can fulfill this role directly out of his work at Red Hat?
   1. AGREED Yes, effective immediately.
   2. ACTION Rich Bowen to change the website to reflect this change.
4. Does the Board accept Red Hat’s request to change the Red Hat Liaison role to be always representing Red Hat on the Board? I.e., remove the “hat on/hat off” aspect of the Liaison role.
   1. AGREED Yes, the Board welcomes this clarification that helps the Liaison be an effective two-way voice between Red Hat and the CentOS Project.
   2. ACTION Karsten and Rich need to coordinate and make changes to add to governance.
5. Shall the role of Board Secretary transfer from Karsten Wade to Thomas Oulevey, to last for a period no shorter than six months and no longer than eighteen months?
   1. AGREED Yes, Thomas shall take over the Secretary role beginning 01 July, transition to begin immediately.
   2. ACTION Thomas and Karsten need to finalize the Secretary duties and details to be rolled into governance; Karsten needs to update the governance to reflect the changes; Rich to update the website to reflect this change.
6. Should the new issue tracker be used for conducting voting, or only for announcing the results of discussions occurring elsewhere?
   1. AGREED No, the issue tracker should not be used for discussions or debate, public or private, on the item in the issue. Discussions should happen in the appropriate forum, with relevant links, notes, and decisions reflected into the individual ticket.
   2. ACTION Voting portion of governance should include this clarification, if it’s unclear. Karsten and Rich to review and propose changes to governance, if needed.
7. Does the Board request Rich Bowen to take lead on an update to the project’s vision and strategy, to bring all the stakeholders to the discussion in working with the planned co-authors?
   1. AGREED Yes, the Board thinks this is a better approach in having Rich work from his position in the middle of the many voices and stakeholders.
   2. ACTION Rich to announce this effort and next steps.
8. No Community Architect report nor triage of the issue tracker occurred in this meeting due to time constraints.

Present at the meeting:

• Jim Perrin
• Johnny Hughes
• Pat Riehecky
• Thomas Oulevey
• Tru Hyunh
• Ralph Angenendt
• Karanbir Singh (Chair)
• Chris Wright (Guest)
• Deb Bryant (Guest)
• Mike McLean
• Rich Bowen
• Karsten Wade (Secretary)