Hi Marina! Marina Zhurakhinskaya <mari...@redhat.com> wrote: ... > Thanks to all the candidates for stepping up to run for the board and for all > the work you already do for the Foundation! > > Many free software organizations have adopted codes of conduct for their > events [1] and some for their communities [2]. Detailed codes of conduct with > specific enforcement guidelines signal to newcomers that the community has > high standards of behavior. They give participants who observe or are subject > to inappropriate behavior something to point to that shows that such behavior > is outside of what is expected and guidelines on how to proceed in getting it > addressed. > > What do you think about adopting a detailed code of conduct, similar to the > one used for GUADEC 2014 [3], for all GNOME events and creating a similarly > detailed code of conduct for the GNOME community?
Most of the time, GNOME is a great place to work and have fun, but sometimes conversations can get heated and/or personal, and the GNOME project has a collective responsibility to manage with these situations. It's important to have effective codes of conduct in place, not just to ensure that GNOME is a friendly and welcoming place, but also so that contributors feel safe from attack, and have support when things go wrong. My view is that a code of conduct needs to strike a balance between length and specificity on the one hand, and readability on the other. In the past, I have found the existing general code of conduct [1] to be too general and vague, and I think that we need something that is longer and clearer. At the same time, a code of conduct is a kind of constitutional document, and sends an important signal about the identity and character of the project, so we need to be careful about having something that seems too prescriptive and bureaucratic. It's not just the rules about conduct that are important here. One thing that we really lack are guidelines about how infringements of the code of conduct should be handled. This creates the danger that people feel unfairly treated if they are accused of breaking the code of conduct, and it opens the door to self-appointed judges taking the law into their own hands. We need to be clear about what should happen if someone breaks the code of conduct. (Who will arbitrate? What are the potential outcomes? What can you do if you disagree with the decision?) My view is that these procedures shouldn't be overly bureaucratic, and should have reconciliation and mediation as their goal, rather than punishment or excommunication. Above all, they should be independent, neutral and fair. Allan _______________________________________________ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
