ARTICLE I - NAME

The name of this organization shall be:

Greater Orlando Linux User Group., hereinafter referred to as "GoLUG".

ARTICLE II - PURPOSE

1. Promote, foster, and develop skills in the use of GNU/Linux operating system, hereinafter referred to as Linux, as well as free software as defined by the Free Software Foundation and open source software as defined by the Open Source Initiative.


2. Provide learning opportunities for members with all levels of ability.


3. Advocate Linux, free software and open source software.


4. GoLUG is organized and will be operated exclusively for educational and charitable purposes within the meaning of section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future tax code. No part of the net earnings of the Corporation shall inure to the benefit of any private individual. No substantial part of its activities will be carrying out propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation. GoLUG will not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.

ARTICLE III - OFFICERS

Section 1. Officers

1. The elected officers shall be a president, a vice president, a secretary, a treasurer, and three directors.


2. These officers shall perform the duties prescribed in these bylaws and by the parliamentary authority adopted by GoLUG.


3. No officer shall be permitted to hold more than one office at any single time.

Section 2. Nominations and Elections

1. The Executive Committee shall hold an election at a general meeting, not more than 6 months after incorporation.


2. A write in vote shall not be allowed.


3. Officers and directors shall assume their duties immediately upon election.


4. The general membership can call for a new general election at any general meeting by a 75% majority vote of the Participating Members in good standing present at that meeting. This call is to create an election committee for the purpose of holding a new nomination meeting leading to a new general election. The nomination meeting will be held at the next general meeting.

Section 3. Term

1. Officers and directors shall serve for a term of one year, or until they either resign or their successors are elected.


2. No officer or director shall serve more than two (2) terms consecutively in the same office.


3. All officers shall deliver to their successors, all official material no later than 25 days following the end of their term.

Section 4. Liability

1. GoLUG shall not hold the officers or directors liable for personal liability or damages incurred in the lawful performance of the business of GoLUG.


2. No bond shall be required of officers or directors.


3. GoLUG shall maintain liability insurance of a minimum of $1,000,000 or greater as required by law or any facility utilized by GoLUG.

Section 5. Duties of Officers and Directors

President

The president shall:

1. Preside at general and executive committee meetings.


2. Be ex-officio of all committees except the Election Committee.


3. Appoint committee chairmen to fill vacancies during his/her term of office.

Vice President

The vice president shall:

1. Act as an aide to the president and shall perform the duties of the president in the absence or disability of the president to act.

Secretary

The secretary shall:

1. Record the minutes of general and executive committee meeting.


2. Record certified election results. Ensure the prompt notification of the membership.


3. Maintain the archival files of all official correspondence of GoLUG.


4. Make available copies of the Bylaws to any member upon request.

Treasurer

The treasurer shall:

1. Receive all monies collected from whatever source and pay bills and other disbursements as authorized by the Executive Committee.


2. Keep complete, accurate records of receipts, disbursements and bank accounts


3. Give a financial report to Executive Committee annually and when asked.


4. Prepare a financial statement for review and approval by Executive Committee prior to review by general membership at the annual meeting.


5. Maintain bank account at a bank approved by Executive Committee. Two signatures of the Executive Committee shall be required on all checks.


6. File all legal financial documents as required by law.

Directors

The responsibilities for the directors shall be as follows:

1. Voting members of the Executive Committee

Section 6. Vacancies

1. The vice president shall fill a vacancy in the office of president.


2. The vacancy thus created in the office of vice president, and any other vacancy, shall be filled by appointment made by the Executive Committee, to serve until the next election.

ARTICLE IV - MEMBERS

Section 1. Membership

1. Membership is open to all persons who conduct civil discourse on topics of Linux, free software and/or open source software, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, disability, or age.


2. There shall be two classes of membership: Participating and Auxiliary.
3. All Participating Members in good standing shall have equal voting rights.


4. All Participating Members in good standing shall have preferential access to group activities and resources.


5. Any member can be removed for cause by a 2/3rds vote of the Executive Committee.


6. A removed member can be reinstated by a simple majority vote of either the general Participating Membership or the Executive Committee.


7. GoLUG shall not hold any member liable for personal liability or damages incurred in the lawful performance of the business of GoLUG.

Section 2. Dues and Fees

1. Dues shall be established by a quorum of the Executive Committee.


2. Changes in dues shall be established by the elected Executive Committee, subject to ratification by two-thirds (2/3) of the membership present and voting at the annual business meeting.


3. Dues shall be collected annually, the collection date being at the discretion of the Executive Committee.


4. Dues for new Participating Members shall be based on a pro-rated schedule provided as follows: In the months of July through December, the rate shall be at 100%. For the months of January through June the rate shall be at 50%.


5. Any persons who has paid his/her dues in full is considered a Participating Member in Good Standing, unless such person has been removed by the Executive Committee by the procedures outlined in Article IV, Section 1.

ARTICLE V - Meetings

Section 1. Executive Committee Meetings

1. Executive Committee Meetings will be held as needed. Voting will be limited to meetings where a quorum is met, and notice is given at least 72 hours in advance via electronic mail in the private mailing list for executive committee members. Executive Committee meetings can be called by any executive committee member or by a 50% vote of the membership in a General meeting.

Section 2. General Membership Meetings

1. General meetings are open to the public, and will be held regularly. General meetings will not be held with less than 15 days notice.


2. Business Meetings will be held once yearly to satisfy corporate requirements. The executive committee must give 60 days notice to all members regarding the date of the yearly Business Meeting. The Business Meeting can coincide with a General Meeting.


3. General Meetings will give seating preference to Participating Members in good standing under limited seating conditions.

Section 3. Special Events

1. Special Events are Executive Committee sanctioned events that involve no formal call to order.


2. A committee may be formed by the Executive Committee to produce the Special Event.


3. Special Events may be restricted to Participating Members in good standing only.


4. Special Events may be restricted to paid admission only.


5. Special Events will give seating preference to Participating Members in good standing under limited seating conditions.

ARTICLE VI - Committees

Section 1. Executive Committee

1. Be responsible for the stewardship of GoLUG.


2. Approve and oversee all expenditures


3. Ensure an annual election of the Executive Committee members.


4. Appoint an Election Committee, for each election.


5. Define, disband or redefine all committees other than those defined in the bylaws.


6. Appoint or remove any committee members other than the Executive Committee members.

Section 2. Election Committee

1. The Election Committee shall be comprised of three voluntary Participating Members in good standing.


2. Election committee members cannot be nominated to office for the duration of their election committee membership, and the executive committee will inform prospective election committee members of that fact.


3. Election Committee members shall be committed for one election.


4. The Election Committee shall accept nominations from the floor of any general meeting at least 1 month prior to the general meeting at which elections are to be held.


5. The Election Committee shall present the slate.


6. Nominations from the floor shall be in order at that time.


7. The Election Committee will hold a vote at the general meeting following the nomination meeting.


8. The Election Committee shall count the votes immediately following the voting process.


9. The Election Committee shall certify and sign the election results.


10. Certified voting results will then be remanded to the Secretary.

Section 3. Formative Executive Committee

1. The Formative Executive Committee will dissolve upon the first election. Until that time, the Formative Executive Committee will function as the Executive Committee. The primary goals of the Formative Executive Committee are to incorporate and hold the first election after incorporation.

ARTICLE VII - Quorum

1. An executive committee quorum shall consist of 50% of the executive committee members.


2. Any vote by the general membership requires the presence of 10 or more Participating Members in good standing, of whom less than half are executive committee members.

ARTICLE VIII - Rules of Order

1. The rules contained in the current edition of ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER, NEWLY REVISED shall govern GoLUG in all cases in which they are not covered with these bylaws.

ARTICLE IX - Etiquette

1. Personal insults, by GoLUG participants, toward other GoLUG participants, at GoLUG events or on GoLUG physical or electronic facilities, are forbidden. Included are personal insults occurring in person at GoLUG events, on GoLUG mailing lists, newsgroups or chat rooms, or any other GoLUG sponsored activity or facility. The rules on personal insults are relaxed, but not eliminated, in the following situations:
   1. During disciplinary proceedings.
   
   
   2. During election discussions.
   
   
   In the preceding situations, the relaxation in the rule against personal insults must be only to the extent necessary to facilitate legitimate discussion on the merits and actions of the person under discussion.


2. Profanity by GoLUG participants at GoLUG events or on GoLUG physical or electronic facilities, is forbidden. Included is profanity occurring in person at GoLUG events, on GoLUG mailing lists, newsgroups or chat rooms, or any other GoLUG sponsored activity or facility.


3. Actions placing GoLUG in jeopardy of legal action are forbidden. This includes, but is not limited to, liable, slander, copyright violation, patent violation, and physical violence. at GoLUG events or on GoLUG physical or electronic facilities. Included is profanity occurring in person at GoLUG events, on GoLUG mailing lists, newsgroups or chat rooms, or any other GoLUG sponsored activity or facility.


4. The GoLUG Executive Committee (or other GoLUG governing body or person) shall take immediate steps to curb all the forbidden activities listed in this article. Such steps can include private or public warnings, temporary or indefinite suspension from GoLUG mailing lists, newsgroups or chatrooms, temporary or indefinite banishment from GoLUG meetings, or in extreme and repeated cases, expulsion from the club.
   
   In considering all such steps, the GoLUG Executive Committee shall consider the severity of the offense and the past history of the offender. The Executive Committee must not implement a "zero tolerance" policy, or any other policy that does not consider the severity and frequency of the offense, or the history of the offender.


5. For the purposes of this article, it is permissible for the GoLUG Executive Committee (or other GoLUG governing body or person) to consider the membership status of the alleged offender.


6. Any executive committee member, or someone appointed by the executive committee (such as an email administrator), or anybody else in a governing position in GoLUG, may immediately take emergency measures to stop ongoing and disruptive violations of this article. The person taking these emergency measures must immediately notify the executive committee (or other GoLUG governing body or person) of the steps taken and the reasons they were taken. Within 5 days of such emergency measures, the executive committee (or other GoLUG governing body or person) must approve, disapprove, or change such emergency measures. Due to the timing involved, such approval or disapproval is not considered a meeting, and is not subject to the normal 72 hour notice provision.
   
   
7. Steps to curb personal insults and profanity must be approved by the president or acting president.
   
   Steps to curb personal insults and profanity must be approved by a simple majority vote of the Executive Committee, except that permenant removal from membership must be approved by a 2/3 vote of the Executive Committee, as stated in Article IV, Section 1. Such steps can be overridden by a simple majority vote of the Participating Members at a general meeting. The Executive Committee is not required to call for such a vote, but neither can the Executive Committee stop such a vote if the membership brings it up.
   
   (Note: If GoLUG incorporates, the struck through text will once again take effect.)
   

ARTICLE X - Amendments to Bylaws

1. These bylaws may be amended at any Executive Committee meeting of GoLUG, provided that the amendment has been submitted at the previous Executive Committee meeting or has been sent to each member at least 10 days prior to the Executive Committee meeting at which it is to be considered. If the Executive Committee passes the amendment, the amendment must then be ratified by a majority vote of the attending Participating members in good standing at a general meeting before it is instituted.

ARTICLE XI - Dissolution

1. In the event of dissolution of GoLUG, the assets shall be liquidated and distributed to a non-profit status organization qualifying under the scope of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or any amendment thereof. None of the funds shall inure to the benefit of individuals.