This section lays down the ground rules for any kind of cooperation and/or collaboration Arabeyes will have with any other group/organization.
Arabeyes will only contribute to Free/Open Software Projects in which source-code or any other relevant results are available to the general public at no charge and in which changes and modifications are allowed to be distributed and/or are echoed back the original author(s)'
Arabeyes will be driven by the users' needs and by volunteers' efforts
Arabeyes efforts will remain vendor neutral and distribution neutral
Arabeyes will maintain its independence/freedom to make its own choices and decisions (technical or otherwise).
Arabeyes will retain its right to engage in any form of partnerships/cooperatives without the need to get permission from any third party (including but not limited to current/prior partners)
Arabeyes will only engage in equal partnerships/cooperatives
Arabeyes will NOT dictate action, NOR will it be dictated to
Arabeyes will maintain technical excellence at all times
An organizational hub for various arabisation development efforts
Infrastructure for new as well as old arabisation projects
Communication mediums for usage by/for projects and teams
Ability to recruit developers and translators
Bleeding-edge tools/apparatus ensuring world-wide team access
Advocation and education of the arabisation of *ix systems
Committed Talent (technical, organizational as well as motivational)
Successful track-record and history of accomplishments
Help in reaching more developers and interested parties (recruiting)
Help in making sure that the Arabeyes projects reach those who need it
Assistance in ensuring Arabeyes' continual existence, by:
Covering the running cost of Arabeyes (currently volunteer-funded)
Providing a means to Upgrade connection/hardware/space when needed
Preserving the volunteers' interest in Arabeyes via the creation of an incentive-plan (reward volunteers who are contributing to Arabeyes)
Assistance in propelling the recognition of 'Arabeyes', by:
Media coverage of Arabeyes' work (Tech features, News releases)
Involving Arabeyes in arabisation committees/decision-making circles
Having a presence in ALL *ix arabisation/development workshops/seminars
All projects, schedules and milestones relating to mutual work will be discussed and agreed-upon a priori. There might be instances where work will commence prior to final agreement, but agreement and consensus MUST be met before fully getting engulfed by technical details.
A representative or a contact person from each organization will act as liaisons and "contact-point" to ensure superior communication. A weekly "status-report" will also be required from each end which will be made available to the public noting "This week's accomplishments (did)" as well as "Next week's accomplishments (todo)". Each new project under-taken will have its own project page (on Arabeyes or elsewhere) to educate as well as ensure continued progress.
Any monetary involvement (or incentives for that matter) in any shape or form will need to be declared publicly and need to be announced prior to any agreement taking shape. The monetary involvement could include but is not limited to compensation to 3rd-party employees, donations or payment to various involved entities or organizations or quid pro quo arrangements among others. In short, if money is involved on either side in any level of the execution or management hierarchy, it needs to be declared.
All details, technical and otherwise, will be subject to the project or sub-project maintainer's approval as regulated by Arabeyes rules and policies. The various details are thus outside the scope of this document and are likely to differ from one project to the next.
All files/code/translations/documents will reside on Arabeyes' CVS repository. That is important because it ensures the centralization of the efforts, making future parties more inclined to follow in-line. If Arabeyes is to mirror then 3rd-party should have CVS access for involved Arabeyes members.
It is expected that all 3rd-party contributors get informed of the virtues of Open Source and volunteerism (Arabeyes can assist in this effort if need be). It is also expected that the 3rd-party will encourage its contributors to further engage with Arabeyes via outlining the benefits to the overall community at large upon completion of agreed-upon tasks. The intent by all parties involved should be to contiguously grow this community and to foster a sense of constant renewal.
3rd-party contributors are expected to use Arabeyes' various mailing lists, to reflect and garnish support for any upcoming activities on a pre-determined specific sub-project.
3rd-party contributors are also expected to commit work in most instances (baring any technical extremes) on a regular basis. The contributors are expected to attain a sufficient level of tool usage to attain this goal.
Regarding any work that Arabeyes will do - credit for that work will first and foremost go to Arabeyes (as a project) and then the various individuals or entities per said agreement. Reason being - the Arabeyes project and its continued existence is far more important than any one person or effort and as such should be held in higher regard.
A detached donation is one in which funds is donated to Arabeyes' general fund without any strings attached. In other words, the funds are given to Arabeyes to do with it as it sees fit given the donation expenditure guidelines within Arabeyes are met. All amounts, dates, donors (unless requested otherwise) will be publicly noted and available.
An attached donation is that in which funds are only donated given these funds are spent on a particular project/task (not individual). In these instances Arabeyes requests that a minimum of 3 options (projects/tasks) are presented for Arabeyes' managers to select from. If agreement is reached and a schedule is adopted 50% of the donation will be requested prior to start of work with the remaining 50% to be delivered upon completion. All finances are to go to Arabeyes' general fund. Arabeyes is then to dispose of any amounts deemed necessary per its expenditure guidelines. Any disputes and/or discussions with regard to payment or project delivery are to be made available to the public in a timely manner. All amounts, dates, donors (unless requested otherwise) will be publicly noted and available.
An attached donation to individuals is that in which funds are only donated given certain individuals are to benefit from said funds. Arabeyes will not take any part of such transactions and is thus not liable nor responsible for them. Donations, as far as Arabeyes are concerned are for the benefit of the project and community at large and not select individuals.