Hi! [short version: The Code of Conduct should be vastly rewritten. Yes, *before* voting on it]
A few days ago, i saw the proposal for a Code of Conduct. First I was very glad, then I read it and was perplexed. I made some research, which confirmed my suspicion: the Code of Conduct that is actually proposed is in the best case useless. You might say "it's better than nothing", but actually it's not: that's giving yourself good conscience without really improving the situation. "Oh yes, we have a CoC. It helps in no way to avoid problems, but you can't tell us to improve the situation because hey, we have a CoC. Also, it was such a huge effort to make this happen, we won't put more anytime soon and we would be sad to hear it doesn't work, so shut up". I think if you do something, do it right. Lots of feminists, who work on these questions since years, collectively, and are concerned by the problem, have documented not only *why* have a CoC, but also *how* - not following their advice is silly and wrong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_invented_here So, what's their advice, and what's missing? Please read the whole of these pages: http://adainitiative.org/2014/02/howto-design-a-code-of-conduct-for-your-community/ http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Code_of_conduct 1 * List specific common behaviors that are not okay 2 * Include detailed directions for reporting violations 3 * Have a defined and documented complaint handling process The proposed CoC doesn't list specific behaviours, has no clear way to report violations and there is no sanction planned (or no way to have it happen). This thing only says "be nice" (or "don't be a dick"). http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/wheatons-law Saying "be nice"? Cute, but doesn't work, and it even helps harassers going away with stuff. 1. Exemples with specifics do/dont: https://www.djangoproject.com/conduct/ https://github.com/mozilla/rust/wiki/Note-development-policy (scroll down to Conduct) http://citizencodeofconduct.org/ http://alamw14.ala.org/statement-of-appropriate-conduct http://code4lib.org/conference/2014/code_of_conduct http://speakup.io/coc.html Since *lots* of people don't see what's bad with sexist jokes, or asking for body mensurations, or stalking you and publish your personal data, it does make sense to list what's inappropriate. It won't be complete, but if it catches 90% of bad behaviours, it's 90% we won't have to argue about. Also, with exemples, it's easier to see if a given situation is similar to those listed. It might be complicated to agree upon a list, but rather discuss *now* than when somebody complains and people start arguing if it was really offensive, because one such argument informs lots of people they are not welcome. So, an "Unacceptable†‬Behavior" section should be added. 2. "Complaints should be made (in private) to the administrators of the forum in question. To find contact information for these administrators, please see [the page on Debian's organizational structure](http://www.debian.org/intro/organization)" There should be a way to report abusive or inadequate behaviour without starting a quest to find somebody interested, maybe have cond...@debian.org where people can redirect you to the right place AND keep trace, so that inadequate behaviour cannot continue on a different forum. Or maybe see if https://wiki.debian.org/AntiHarassment can be extended? Also, why "(in private)"? People who are not confortable to report in public will do it in private, but shouldn't *have to* be discreet about other's misbehaviour. 3. "Serious or persistent offenders will be temporarily or permanently banned from communicating through Debian's systems." I think if somebody is a serious and persistent offender, they should be banned from the project, and not only some communication channels. In general, this Code of Conduct seems to be more afraid to bruise offender's ego than to assure contributor's well-being. It's hard enough to report when somebody treats you badly, I think those precautions are counterproductive: it kindof says "people shouldn't be mean, but if they are, it's probably ok". If somebody acts correctly or apologises in case of offense, nobody will report them, so let's remove: ## In case of problems "[...] However, regardless of whether the message is public or not, it should still adhere to the relevant parts of this code of conduct; in particular, it should not be abusive or disrespectful. Assume good faith; it is more likely that participants are unaware of their bad behaviour than that they intentionally try to degrade the quality of the discussion." This just repeats all the above, and that's condescending to the people who have to report something: it's probably not the first time in their lifes that they are being harassed, they probably just ignore minor offenses daily. It's insulting to assume they misjudge if something is offensive. Maybe they do, but that's not very probable (especially if a list of inadequate behaviour is provided). There could also be a mention that you can speak up and/or report if you witness inappropriate behaviour, not only if you're the target of it. ---------- I'm not a DD, so I have no decision power on this, and I know it's a lot of critics, quite late in the process, because I saw it only recently. Oh, and of course it's long to read. But I really hope this proposal can be changed. I can write specific amendments, if somebody is willing to sponsor them :) Solveig -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-project-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? 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