What it means to be a member

Introduction

FLOSSK is a membership-based organization where our members are the core driving force of our mission to promote free software, open source hardware, and open culture in Kosovo. Becoming a member of FLOSSK is not just about accessing physical or digital resources; it represents a commitment to cooperative world improvement, open knowledge, and mutual development.

Our community is organized into structured membership categories to ensure clear governance, sustainable operations, and active participation while maintaining the open, decentralized culture of a hackerspace.

Membership Categories & Roles

Associate (Contributing) Members

Associate members represent individuals who believe in FLOSSK's mission and wish to actively support and show interest in our initiatives.

• Definition: Any individual who accepts FLOSSK's Statute, supports its goals, and participates in its activities.
• Rights:
  • Access to internal discussion forums, central communication channels, and mailing lists.
  • Participation in FLOSSK events, workshops, and communal activities.
  • General access to FLOSSK's technical resources and Prishtina Hackerspace's physical facilities (within defined hours and safety rules).
  • The right to stay informed about all aspects of FLOSSK's operations, initiatives, and finances.
  • Public listing as a contributor/member on the FLOSSK forum.
  • The right to propose, initiate, or lead new FLOSSK projects and community workgroups.
• Responsibilities:
  • Support FLOSSK's mission through active participation, advocacy, and positive contribution.
  • Adhere to the organization's Statute, Code of Ethics, and Hackerspace Safety Guidelines.
  • Pay membership fees if established and required by the Assembly of Members.
• Limitations:
  • Associate Members do not have voting rights in the Assembly of Members (Kuvendi) and cannot vote on constitutional or governance decisions.

Full (Voting) Members

Full Members represent the highly active core of the organization who hold the ultimate decision-making power.

• Definition: Highly active contributors who are thoroughly familiar with FLOSSK's ongoing projects, operational workflows, and organizational challenges.
• Eligibility & Path:
  • Must have been an active Associate Member for at least one (1) year in good standing.
  • Demonstrated significant, sustained past or present contributions to FLOSSK's areas of work.
  • Formally proposed and voted in by more than 50% of the existing Full Members at the Assembly.
• Rights:
  • All rights of Associate Membership.
  • Full voting rights in the Assembly of Members (Kuvendi), including electing, appointing, and dismissing the Board Executive Board (Bordi Ekzekutiv) and amending the Statute.
  • Participation in monthly meetings with other Voting Members, the Executive Board, and professional staff [11].
• Responsibilities:
  • Continual, active contribution to FLOSSK's activities, projects, or hackerspace maintenance.
  • Stay in high moral and ethical standing.
  • Maintain active governance participation by attending at least 60% of regular recurring members' meetings during a calendar year (tracked via attendance lists and official meeting minutes).

Professional Staff / Stafi

• Definition: Paid employees of FLOSSK under formal employment contracts [13].
• Rights & Responsibilities:
  • Perform duties as outlined in their specific employment agreements and job descriptions [13].
  • An employee of FLOSSK automatically becomes a Contributing (Associate) Member of the organization [13].

FLOSSK Community / Komuniteti (Non-Membership)

• Definition: An informal, internal list of FLOSSK friends, stakeholders, donors, and occasional activity participants.
• Note: This is not a formal membership category and does not carry structural rights or responsibilities under the Statute.

Code of Conduct & Ethical Commitments

Moral and Ethical Standing

Every member, board director, staff member, and hackerspace visitor must act in accordance with the FLOSSK Code of Ethics:

• Integrity and Respect: Act with absolute honesty, impartiality, and mutual respect. No direct or indirect discrimination is tolerated based on race, gender, language, religion, political stance, sexual orientation, disability, or personal status.
• Professional Independence: Members and staff must perform their duties independently, fairly, and transparently, without allowing private interests to conflict with their duties.
• Confidentiality: Members must respect and preserve non-public, confidential organizational or partner information.

Duty of Non-Hindrance

As a collaborative community of hackers and makers, members must:

• Respect the ongoing work, equipment configurations, and projects of fellow members.
• Actively cooperate to increase collective efficiency.
• Refrain from hindering others in their regular duties, experimentation, or hacking projects.
• Handle all hackerspace tools and communal equipment with care.

Intellectual Property & Permissive Licensing

All materials and documentation produced by members or staff during official FLOSSK engagements are the property of FLOSSK. Consistent with our open-source mission:

• Software codebases must be released under permissive licenses (e.g., MIT, Apache 2.0, GPL).
• Digitized works, literary preservation text, and civic documentation are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license.