DWARF Debugging Information Format Committee Bylaws

May 6, 2021

Article 1. Organization Name and Purpose

1. The name of the organization is the DWARF Debugging Information Format Committee (“Committee”).

2. The purpose of the organization is to standardize the DWARF Debugging Format, a data format used to support source level debugging for a number of different programming languages. The primary result of the Committee is the publication of various versions of the DWARF Debugging Format Standard (“Standards”).

3. The Committee’s goals are to extend the DWARF Debugging Format to improve its ability to support different programming languages and computer architectures, to correct and clarify the existing Standards, and to promote the use of the DWARF Debugging Format within the compiler and debugger development community.

4. Materials produced by the Committee, such as Standards, are to be made available to the general public.

Article 2. Membership

1. Membership in the Committee is open to compiler or debugger developers who have experience with source language debugging and debugging formats.

2. Membership will be contingent upon explicitly agreeing to the DWARF Committee Participation Agreement and approval of the DWARF Executive Committee.

3. Membership may be revoked by a majority vote of the Executive Committee.

4. Members may represent themselves or may represent their employers.

5. Members shall be active participants in the development and extension of the DWARF Debugging Format.

Article 3. Officers

1. Chair. The duties of the Chair are as follows:

   (a) Convene meetings of the Committee.
   (b) Produce minutes and records of the meetings and decisions of the Committee.
   (c) Manage and moderate Committee resources, such as mailing lists or web sites.
   (d) Represent the Committee to the public as necessary.
   (e) Offer Committee membership to individuals and evaluate membership qualifications.

2. Editor. The duties of the Editor are as follows:

   (a) Maintain, revise, and edit the Standards.
   (b) Incorporate modifications to the Standards as approved by the Committee.
   (c) Prepare Standards for publication.

3. Executive Committee.

   (a) The Executive Committee shall consist of the Chair, the Editor, and three members of the Committee.
   (b) The Chair shall nominate members to the Executive Committee and they shall be confirmed by a vote of the Committee members.

4. Officers serve on a volunteer basis, without compensation.

5. An officer may be removed by a vote of the Committee.

6. In the event that the position of Chair is vacant, the remaining members of the Executive Committee shall nominate a new Chair who shall be confirmed by a vote of the Committee members.

Article 4. Meetings

1. Meetings are convened, generally remotely, as needed to address the business before the Committee.

2. In person meetings may be convened as necessary.

3. A mailing list is provided for communication between members of the Committee.

Article 5. Voting

1. Decisions of the Committee are generally made on a consensus basis, rather than by a vote. The objective is that decisions are broadly endorsed, rather than narrowly adopted.

2. Each company represented on the Committee will have one indivisible vote.

3. Each member not representing a company will have one vote.

4. Where this document refers to a vote of the Committee, it means an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Committee with each company having one indivisible vote.

Article 6. Initial Adoption

1. These bylaws will be considered adopted by the Committee upon receipt of written acceptance by two-thirds of the Committee, with each company represented having one vote.

Article 7. Amendment

1. Proposed amendments to these bylaws must be sent to all members of the Committee at least 30 days in advance of the balloting on the amendment.

2. These bylaws may be amended by a vote of the Committee.

3. Balloting on proposed amendments shall be conducted by email.

Article 8. General

1. By participating in the Committee, members affirm that they have authority to participate if acting on behalf of an employer, and that all submissions which they make, whether to an email list, web site, or in the course of a meeting, are without license or other encumbrance.

2. If any portion of these bylaws is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that portion is deemed eliminated, with the remainder unaffected.

3. No officer or member of the Committee shall have any financial liability for actions of the Committee.