job: org-blueprint rev: 001 · 2026-08-31 user: paulr@sdf.org

iusethis, the organization.

A brainstorm for growing iusethis.org from a one-page register into a contributor-run organization — without anyone managing anyone. The rule that makes the whole thing coherent: only what's actually in use gets registered, and only the person using it gets to say so.

Three lanes of output

Everything the org could produce is the same material at three depths. A record can grow into a write-up; a write-up is already the script for a video. One pipeline, not three programs.

lane 1 · shipping now

Records

One-line register entries on the site. Cheapest possible contribution: a single PR, merged on format check alone. This is the funnel — every contributor's first commit.

lane 2 · next

Write-ups & stacks

First-person pieces: how one tool earns its place, or how a whole stack hangs together ("my static blog stack", "my home server stack"). Stacks cross-link records — that's where the site becomes browsable.

lane 3 · when chartered

Video

A YouTube channel of 5–10 minute screen-shares: the user demoing the tool inside their real workflow. Low production on purpose — honesty is the brand. A write-up is the script; the terminal is the set.

The self-organizing system

No roadmap owner, no task assignment, no meetings. Four mechanisms replace management — all now codified in the repo's CONTRIBUTING.md:

Do-ocracy

Doing the work confers authority over it. Nobody approves starting; the repo history is the org chart.

Advice process

Before acting on something that affects others, ask them — then act. Advice is input, never a veto.

Lazy consensus

72 hours of silence on a proposal is a yes. Irreversible things (deletions, license, money) need explicit approval.

Charterable working groups

Any two people can PR a one-page charter and own an area — the YouTube channel, the stacks section, the build pipeline. Groups idle 90 days are archived by whoever notices. This is how the org grows arms without a founder assigning them.

The org's memory is a decision log (docs/decisions/): a few sentences per decision — context, call, who was consulted. It replaces status meetings entirely.

Online tools

One filter: if a tool's output can't be checked into git or linked from an issue, it isn't a system of record here.

Function	Tool	Why this one
Source of truth	GitHub org `iusethis`	Content, charters, decisions, SOPs — all files under review. Free, and portable to any git host if GitHub ever sours.
Proposals	GitHub Issues + Discussions	Lazy consensus needs public timestamps; issue templates (already in the repo) make suggesting a write-up a fill-in form.
Publishing	GitHub Pages + Actions	Already deployed. Actions later builds the site from per-record data files — CI is the only "employee".
Chat	IRC `#iusethis` (libera) or SDF `com`	Fits the culture, zero cost. Ephemeral by policy: anything binding goes back to an issue.
Video	YouTube + an archive.org mirror	Reach on YouTube, permanence on the archive. Channel credentials owned by the video working group, named in its charter.

Tech stack growth path

Stay static; add structure only when the data demands it. Never a database, never a server — the whole org runs on files.

now Zero build One index.html + projects.js. Shipped.

~25 records One file per record YAML in records/, a GitHub Action concatenates at deploy. PRs stop colliding on one file.

write-ups live Static site generator Eleventy or Hugo, keeping the greenbar design system. Write-ups and stack pages render from markdown.

later, maybe Feeds & API RSS per lane, a JSON dump of the register, per-user pages. Still just files.

First 30 days

Repo initialized: site, MIT license, CONTRIBUTING SOP, org handbook, issue templates
Create the iusethis GitHub org and push; enable Pages from main
DNS: TXT verification record, then apex A/AAAA records, then Enforce HTTPS (steps in README)
Seed the register with 8–10 of Paul's real records — the register must not look empty to its first visitor
Write one exemplar write-up — it becomes the template others imitate
Open 3–5 write-up-suggestion issues as claimable starters
Announce once where the audience already is: SDF com/IRC, Hacker News "Show HN", Mastodon
Charter the video group only when a second person wants it — chartering solo is managing

Open questions for the next session

Scope: software only, or hardware and services too? ("I use this keyboard…")
Is the register personal-per-contributor (many small registers) or one shared register with attribution?
Does "dormant" content age out publicly, or is the history part of the honesty?
Money: accept none (simplest), or an Open Collective the moment any tool costs anything?
Name check: is iusethis.com's dormant trademark history worth a look before the channel launches?