Committee Meeting 2024-04-04 18:00 UTC

The meeting will take place at 18:00 UTC at https://meet.jit.si/cacert If you do not have audio channel, you may try in the IRC channel #board-meeting on the CAcert IRC network.

Feel free to add a business item within the acceptance period of 48 hours or your question to the board below. Non-committee members: the committee may choose to convert any business proposed as a question in the questions section.

<!> Daylight Saving Time: 18:00 UTC = 20:00 CEST (Geneva) = 14:00 EDT (New York)

Agenda

Signs that appear in the agenda
<!> Formulated motion on your topic. It will be put to the vote. Adjustments may be made before the vote. A motion must be submitted for resolutions!
{i} Information for your attention. Does not need to be explained or discussed at the meeting. Purpose: Everyone is up to date. (max. 10 seconds) (!) Discussion topic with or with no decision.

  1. Preliminaries one
    1. Chair opens the Committee Meeting
    2. Who is making minutes?
    3. Chair asks whether cacert-board-private or cacert-board maillist or Threema chat or Telegram group includes any items that need to be disclosed to Members.

    4. <!> Accept minutes from 7. March 2024 <!> "I move to accept the minutes of the committee meeting of 1st of Feb 2024."

    5. Agree on the 2nd of May 2024 as date for the next committee meeting. (Following dates probably 6. June, 4. July 2024 18:00 UTC)
  2. Business
    1. Decisions
    2. OpenID
      issue: alpha or beta version available
      who: Brian, +?
      what help needed:
      next step: (do we know someone who could get a hand to be asked directly?)

    3. ERP / other tool
      issue: install, following plan
      who: Frédéric G, Etienne
      what help needed:
      <!> Decision for Spreadsheet on Nextcloud / CiviCRM on our servers (free) / CiviCRM hosted ($$)
      next step: Frédéric will install/introduce a tool for accounting and members list

    4. {i} Big Mail
      issue: review and sending
      who: Etienne, Dirk
      what help needed: none
      started: review by Dirk and Etienne, next step: finishing; ongoing)

    5. {i} Paypal
      issue: get the money (when, the 180 days are over?) (ClawbackAction)
      who: Frédéric G, Etienne, +?
      what help needed:
      next step: (last steps: e-mail draft; get in touch with JanDD)
      <!> "I move to answer JanDD to do as proposed concerning the paypal@c.o. account."

    6. Class 1 / Class 3
      issue: singer issues: repair or change the policy
      who: Kim, +?
      what help needed:
      next step: submit proposals or drafts for discussion at Policy group
      There are known issues with the signer. Some which need to be fixed and some that should not be fixed, as they aren't in line with how certificates should be used today (processes which have been incorrect for many years). Unfortunately, there are some old rules in CAcert documentation, specifically in the CPS, which seem to prohibit the necessary changes and improvements to the certificate creation and signing process. This means that the CPS, and perhaps other documentation needs to be rewritten, and some will require acceptance of the Policy group. A new version of documents need to be created and proposed, and when they are accepted, the necessary work on more correct processes can begin. A first draft has been created, and shared among Board and a few other active members.
      See also proposition from Aleš at the minutes of January https://wiki.cacert.org/Brain/CAcertInc/Committee/MeetingAgendasAndMinutes/2024-01-04

    7. SGM Future (by FG)
      issue: maybe dissolution of the association?
      Next steps: Discuss the detailed plan (step-by-step of a possible process) for the attention of the SGM
      Who: Frédéric G.
      help needed: ?

    8. Background checks
      issue: keep the ball running; more background checkers
      who: Brian, Etienne
      what help needed: background checkers
      last month: tried to get in touch
      next step: Stay tuned

  3. on hold (for later this year)
    1. Infrastructure: (Dirk)
      1. Start thinking about planning when to do things about new roots, so we are prepared several years in advance, as no certs should have a end-date after any root certificates. Also take a look at the old Escrow article. https://wiki.cacert.org/Roots/EscrowAndRecovery

      1. How is it going with implementing LetsEncrypt certificates on public facing services, instead of keeping them behind CAcert's "unknown" certificates?

    2. Remote Assurance (Brian)

      1. {i} Creation of remote assurance sub committee (RASC) on the hold until Eva is available for the policy. Secretary got in touch with Eva on Oct. 12.
        "Users Requests, summarized." added by Aleš a) need for a distant assurance (no assurers, no TTP possibility in their country); b) need for the write access to our Wiki.

    3. Background Check
      1. done
        1. {i} BGC for Gero: Interview happened (by Ted&Etienne), committee is waiting for the report (has to be sent by Gero).

      2. pipeline
        1. BGC for Brian: who (no board member in BGC team! (Egal/JanDD) /!\ Brian has to re-contact the two checkers at 01 sept 2023.

        2. {i} BGC for Peter is initiated. (date searching; Interview by Ted&Egal)

        3. {i} BGC for Matthias are initiated. (date searching started in August 2022)

        4. {i} BGC for Sascha are initiated. (language: en or de)

    4. Any other business (board members forgot to ask the secretary to put it on the agenda)
    5. What's coming next? ???
  4. Question Time

    Questions from CAcert.org community members can be added until beginning of committee meeting! As well questions can be asked at "Question Time", without added question here.

    1. Would it be possible to make an Interim Measure? I have prepared the text of proposals. added by Aleš Kastner

    2. "Question One." added by Your Name Comment: Replace "Question One" by your Question and add your name

1. Closing


  1. To remember: Goals 2021/2022 (propositions by board 2020/2021) - Each goal needs a responsible person on the board who keeps an eye on it and reports regularly, keeps in touch with the responsible people. {X} obsolete / (./) started / {OK} waiting for available time

    • push OrgA (Guy)
    • expand PR (Alex cannot do this, wants to hand over)
    • (./) delivering the OpenID Connect integration, for which CAcert is funded by the RIPE NCC.

    • (./) expand background check

    • {OK} remote assurance, if accepted by the community;

    • (./) simplify the certificate creation (this enables the start of various projects from the pipeline)

    • software development and testing
    • (./) New CSR software

    • {X} support SecureU (find an active board member for them in Germany)

  2. Not to forget: Staffing the teams
    1. Applicants to the Infrastructure team
    2. Applicants to the Development team
    3. Applicant to the Critical team

  1. Access to local systems for board members

Person

Board-Private

Committee Archive

Wiki

Nextcloud

Brian

(./)

(./)

(./)

(./)

Etienne

(./)

Admin

(./)

(./)

FrédéricD

(./)

(./)

(./)

Admin

FrédéricG

(./)

(./)

(./)

(./)

Kim

(./)

(./)

(./)

(./)

Michael

(./)

(./)

<!>

(./)

Wacław

<!>

(./)

<!>

?

Aleš

(./)

(./)

(./)

(./)

1. Tasks assigned to Board Members and others

Person

Task

Deadline

Other People Involved

Notes

Brian

Contact QA/QC Volunteers

10 January 2022

Gero Treuner, Peter Nunn, others?

To begin work, they do not need ABC.

Brian

bla

2022

xxx

xx.

Brian

bla

2022

xxx

xx.


  1. Software Team
    1. Issue 1502: Adapt the UI at CAcert.org to deal with the "keygen" feature having been removed in browsers (Some of this will be met with 1551 )

    2. Issue 1482: Limit validity period of new HTTPS certificates to one year

    3. Issue 1444: PHP - Brian

    4. Issue 1417: Keygen / new CSR software - Bernhard

  2. Organisation Assurance
    1. How to relance OrgA? (Guy)
  3. Grant applications
    1. Protopype Fund https://prototypefund.de/en/ (mail to SW Board only)

      1. The Prototype Fund is a project of the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). This is for residents of Germany only. We could create a group of people that work on a project for CAcert (with all support of the others in the background). It runs for two more years, every 6 month.
      2. Infra does not see any acute need at the moment, and does not have the capacity to provide qualified support.
      3. There are some ideas for software, but in infra's view there is still a lot of conceptual and preparatory work missing. What Infra could imagine is financing people to carry out a requirements analysis and write a requirements and test specification. This could then be used as a basis for a new implementation of the CAcert software (WebDB, Signer and perhaps other things like CATS). But these are just a few ideas of JanDD and he cannot currently recommend any people who would be suitable for this. Potential candidates would have to deal intensively with the existing software on the one hand and with the underlying policies on the other, and would have to identify a lot of missing information, ask for it and make assumptions for discussion. This requires very good analytical and communication skills and a high level of stamina.
  1. Blockchain
    1. see here: https://wiki.cacert.org/Brain/CAcertInc/Committee/MeetingAgendasAndMinutes/2018-03-01/ideas#Blockchain (waiting for answer from IanG)

Minutes Committee meeting - 2024-04-04

Brian opens the meeting. From the various communications channels, we ad as (9) the affiliate access. The minutes were accepted and the date of the next meeting on May 2nd, 18:00 UTC confirmed.

The business were discussed in order 8-2, followed by 9:

8. Backgroundcheck Brian had no success with his ontacts in the past weeks due to holiday- and illness absences. Dirk pinged Jan during the meeting and the topic should finally come to a good end.

7. Special General Meeting Frédéric D presented a draft of the plan. Etienne insists: Until it is known, at least in outline, what needs to be cancelled, with whom and with what time or financial deadlines, he cannot in good conscience invite people to an SGM. The members must know what is being voted on. At the very least, it must be clear what questions we need to ask ourselves. Best would be an overview with all obligations and assignment Inc / community.

6. Class 1/3 Etienne allready asked Kim and will distribute the answer as soon as available. Dirk pointed out that the agenda is outdated, the issues were resolved in february. The adaptation of the policies remains a topic, but not an urgent one. Kim will work on it during the next time.

5. Paypal The board supports JanDD's proposition to replace the e-mail alias by an account. Dirk mention that in roundcoube a forwarder can be made. JanDD could get in toouch with him as soon as the motion passed.

4. Information mail cocerning policies-changes The review by Dirk and Etienne started, they want to speed up, after nobody is ill any more.

3. CiviCRM to bring together again member list and accounting. We would like to install on our server. The usual way is to (1) install it on the test server, then (2) make a step by step documentation and (3) Jan will do it on the real server. As Brian know the software ("not difficult"), he will look with Dirk, if there is an easy way outside the critical systems.

2. Open ID Brians has good news: He has the pieces, now, he has to bring them together and "glue" them. Collaboration with Dirk started allready. The goal is to present some working examples (e.g. wiki, blog, mantis, otrs) at Froscon 2024 in August (17./18.).

9. Affilate Every person receiving e-mails to the affiliate@c.o. address is asked to forward them to the secretary.

10. Varia The Wednesday Meetings will be helt one hour earlier from now on: Wednesday, 12:30 UTC = 14:30 CEST at meet.jit.si/cacert as usual.

Motions

Actions

Who

Status

Action

Minutemaker

wip

prepare Agenda and Minutes for the next meeting

Brian

Software meeting

every 2 month

Secretary

bank

accounts, contact with treasurer


Brain/CAcertInc/Committee/MeetingAgendasAndMinutes/2024-04-04 (last edited 2024-04-28 07:59:41 by KimNilsson)