This post is going to go more heavily into the details of cooperative governance and structure, as well as my ideas for how this will all work. It may get a bit dry but bear with me, it will be important later.
Cooperatives exist so that small holders or interested parties may combine their resources for mutual benefit. This differs from a traditional corporation whose sole aim is to make profit for the investors. In a coop, the aims are usually manifold. In a grocery coop, for instance, an aim may be to only carry organic products, or to minimize prices for members. The members and board must decide what is important to the organization and create bylaws to uphold their choices. The point is, the members of the coop decide what benefits them the most and they have a measure of power within the organization to ask for what they want.
Initially the Tuxedo Cooperative's chief aims will be: 0. To uphold the values of a Free and Open Culture. 1. To create the best possible user experience for desktop computers. 2. Use Free Open Source Software and Hardware wherever possible and 3. Develop Free Open Source Software and Hardware in areas where such an offering is missing or lacking in features or quality. 4. Provide income for developers, engineers, sysadmins, and techs that develop and support TuxedOS. 5. Support TuxedOS members in any way possible that doesn't conflict with any of the above aims.
Of course, these aims are tentative and may be stricken, modified or amended by future governance as they see fit.
In a typical cooperative, the members pay a one-time or recurring (annual) fee to be a member. This effectively entitles them to one share of the company and each member may only hold one share. They are entitled to whatever benefits that the coop's governance has decided to offer for membership. Usually, the benefits are: discounted pricing for products via the coop's collective buying power, a voice in the governance, and getting a dividend from any profit made.
For this free software cooperative, the members would receive the a powerful computing platform complete with a full suite of supported software (binaries would be available ONLY to members), they would have access to technical support and support forums. Also offered would be certified hardware for sale at discounted prices. Other possible benefits would be cloud storage accounts and VPN access. Any profits generated would go towards funding free software/hardware projects to move the platform forward.
The membership has the responsibility of electing the board of directors. These are the executives of the organization and they are directly responsible to the members. The board votes to elect one of their number to be the president, who presides over meetings and is the ultimate responsible person for the organization. The board is also responsible for hiring the key positions, as well as setting the agenda and maintaining the finances of the coop.
In my vision, this structure would be remixed a bit. The board would be made up of three representatives elected by employees. Three board members would be elected by the membership. And three would be appointed by the President. The President would be an employee of the coop hired by the Board. The President would set the agenda and be responsible for executing the board's decisions, but would not vote on board issues. The President's role is to be caretaker of the entire organization, to be the mediator between all parties and to offer the long view to all of the partisan interests.
Hopefully, the benefits of this type of organization are beginning to become clear. The tech sphere has long been dominated by closed door development, dictatorial leadership, and a controlling attitude towards users. The FOSS movement has been a revolution in humanizing computing as an endeavor, and it is my hope that the cooperative business model becomes the natural economic companion to that movement.
More soon and thanks for reading!
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