1  #### 1\) We share, therefore we are
  2  
  3  Code and ideas are free (libre) and open source by default. It takes
  4  cost and effort to enclose, exploit and restrict thought or information.
  5  We choose to make our code available for anyone to download, use and
  6  abuse in a share-alike manner. Make sure to burn this into your neural
  7  pathways; “Free Software for a Free Society.”
  8  
  9  #### 2\) Do first, ask permission later
 10  
 11  In free and open networks, as opposed to fixed and closed hierarchies,
 12  permission is exactly equivalent to good communication. Open source
 13  software projects are very different to traditional corporations. Others
 14  will not tend to give you work to do, track your time, set exact
 15  deliverables, and generally make your plan for you. This can truly be a
 16  blessing. However, it also means that have to look actively to see what
 17  needs doing, and then take responsibility for getting it done. The only
 18  caveat here is that thou shalt not duplicate work. Asking for permission
 19  in open source setups is equivalent to checking that nobody else is
 20  working on your issue.
 21  
 22  #### 3\) We collaborate competitively
 23  
 24  Our community values creative collaboration, understanding that
 25  creativity can be best served by the very structure of open source
 26  communities where ideas compete to flourish: i.e. if you don't like it,
 27  fork it. Having said that ,we compete only to collaborate more
 28  effectively, efficiently and equally than other value ecosystems and so
 29  we strive to produce, promote and protect the kind of language -
 30  especially at a protocol level - that enhances the development of ideas
 31  and constructive dialogue.
 32  
 33  #### 4\) We are open and transparent with all our peers
 34  
 35  In order to use new technology responsibly, we need to understand the
 36  practical benefits and potential dangers it confers on us and how to use
 37  them most wisely. If we are to let go of the need for central
 38  intermediaries of trust (and therefore much of the possibility of
 39  systemic corruption) it will not just be a technological problem, but
 40  one that requires a shift in mindset from everyone.
 41  
 42  #### 5\) Each one, teach one
 43  
 44  An AfrikaBurn principle, here because phrases like 'permissionless
 45  innovation' and 'low barriers to access' are meaningless without an
 46  educated community capable of understanding and innovating in the first
 47  place. Education is a massive part of the long term vision of Status, so
 48  be a teacher.
 49  
 50  #### 6\) Give, without expecting anything in return
 51  
 52  No, we're not asking for money. This is just a truly beautiful concept -
 53  give of your time, give of your knowledge, give of your enthusiasm. Find
 54  something that inspires you to the point where giving is a blessing, not
 55  a burden.
 56  
 57  #### 7\) We do not exploit people or information
 58  
 59  Because no set of principles would be complete without stating the
 60  obvious: part of forming a collaborative community is the endeavour to
 61  always  think, speak, and act rightly. Oh, and don't lie, steal, kill,
 62  or worship false idols either.
 63  
 64  #### 8\) We participate enthusiastically
 65  
 66  The word ‘enthusiasm’ comes from the Greek entheos - to see god in the
 67  world, or rather, to infuse the divine into everything we see and do. We
 68  believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in
 69  society, can occur only through deeply personal participation. Money is
 70  a token, a legal fiction, and fiction always needs the reader to
 71  participate in the story by suspending our disbelief in order to reveal
 72  a deeper truth. With enthusiasm we can take a conscious part in the most
 73  valuable drama of our day and write collaboratively the next page of
 74  history.
 75  
 76  ## Community Culture
 77  
 78  Before we go any further, we need to tell you a little about our culture
 79  and the kind of community we are trying to build at Status. A token (be
 80  it linguistic or economic) is a representation, a sign, an expression of
 81  value. However, it takes a community to interpret different
 82  representations of value and thereby imbue them with meaning. Our
 83  communities are as important as the consensus protocol we use to agree
 84  upon our shared history and future.
 85  
 86  Bitcoin revealed how a transaction-based model can be used to secure and
 87  communicate value via a network of peers. However, commercial
 88  transactions are only a subset of human interaction and relationship.
 89  With a richer scripting language - a Turing-complete protocol for
 90  defining protocols - we can use Ethereum not only to secure and
 91  communicate value, but to define that value dynamically and build
 92  systems that incentivise more equitable distribution. In short, it takes
 93  a community with a rich common language to invest any given transaction
 94  with meaning.
 95  
 96  It is this same community that uses language to build applications
 97  useful to them and their local context, which nevertheless leverage the
 98  power of global, trustless computation provided by networks like
 99  Ethereum. Technology itself does not act or mean anything; it is the
100  users who define the direction it takes. In this sense, the tools we
101  choose to use are always double-edged swords. Importantly, our aim is
102  not to use only one side of that sword, but rather to cut with the grain
103  of the wood.
104  
105  ## Community Structure
106  
107  Whatever part people play in the story of the Status Network they are
108  all contributing to something larger than themselves. We want you to
109  help lay the foundations for the contributions that follow by
110  deliberately constructing a set of shared meanings that will give our
111  community structure. Our community activity is organised into domains,
112  but they are not intended to be a separation of powers or a prescription
113  of people’s fixed roles. Any one of us may, at different stages, be a
114  Creator, Contributor or Curator, or a mix of all three. We simply hope
115  these categories will help us think about the many aspects of a
116  permissionless community and structure our activity effectively.
117  
118  #### Contributors - “I build”
119  
120  Our community is organised into three essential domains. The first, and
121  most important for our maiden voyage, are contributors like yourself.
122  These are people who understand the vision, code first, and talk later.
123  Occasionally, they venture out of their basements to face the wider
124  world, but very rarely during the day. Such people rapidly come to
125  understand the scope of the technical challenges facing us and are
126  willing to spend most of their time either on GitHub or in a code editor
127  locally, trying to figure out how to make an almost entirely new
128  technology stack work in ways that “ordinary” people will understand,
129  use, and find generally delightful.
130  
131  #### Creators - “I communicate”
132  
133  Next up, we have creators. These are people with the skills and
134  intelligence required to take the amazing and technical work done by
135  contributors, understand the intention behind it and the ways in which
136  it is meant to be used, and then express that coherently to an audience
137  more diverse than just other developers or cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
138  They do so by - as the name implies - creating new and interesting
139  content that people find engaging and educational, as well as creating
140  events and meetups around the world and generally building a friendly,
141  welcome and informative platform for our wider community. Think of them
142  as the translation layer between hardcore code and real world uses.
143  
144  #### Curators “I Pollinate”
145  
146  Finally, we have the curators. These are open-minded, caring people
147  capable of moderating our social channels, taking the content generated
148  by creators and placing it contextually within the chaotic web of modern
149  communications all competing for our limited attention. There are many
150  ideas that we don’t properly understand in the wider Web3 community and
151  around the status network, and curators pick them out and hold them up
152  to the light. They engage people in further conversations about whatever
153  the hot topic is that day and gather wider community feedback to hand
154  over to creators and contributors so as to improve our processes
155  iteratively. While they don’t need to add as much original value as
156  contributors or curators, these people are in the front-lines, answering
157  questions and taking fire from the trolls. Speaking of German and Polish
158  curators at WWII museums in Europe, one commentator was struck by “their
159  patience and willingness to engage with students asking difficult
160  questions− and their willingness to hear people out in a culture of
161  patience and good faith”. These are the kind of people we are looking
162  for.