DAO technology is still in its early stage of adoption and there is still experimentation to determine successful and sustainable governance models and best practices. One of the challenges for DAOs is that the blockchain is an immutable record, which can make it difficult to adapt and experiment. Many DAOs have resorted to running more operations off-chain, relying on a trusted group of actors to execute decisions. However, we believe that for DAOs to be truly unstoppable, they must run on blockchains.
To address this challenge, we have developed a new DAO framework called Aragon OSx. It is designed to be lean and modular, allowing organizations to easily customize and adapt their governance. By following the Unix philosophy of building simple and composable building blocks, organizations can find the solution that works for them and easily change it as their organization evolves.
Aragon OSx functions as an operating system for DAOs. An operating system is like the intermediary between the hardware and software of a computer, allowing programs to run by granting permissions. Similarly, Aragon OSx manages permissions for DAOs. It has a trusted core, called the DAO Core, which holds the assets of the DAO and grants permissions to external programs, called plugins. These plugins are small, composable building blocks that solve specific problems for the DAO. They can be mixed and matched to create different types of organizations.
The plugins are external to the DAO’s core and require permission to interact with the DAO’s assets. This setup ensures the security and flexibility of the DAO. Developers have control over their own plugins and can design them to be upgradeable or non-upgradeable, depending on their needs.
Overall, Aragon OSx provides a framework that allows DAOs to run onchain and adapt their governance as they learn and grow. It follows the principles of simplicity, modularity, composability, flexibility, and the Unix philosophy to create an efficient and customizable operating system for DAOs.