Re: Code Of Conduct

[Peter Williams <peter newton cx>]

On Wed, 2006-05-31 at 10:49 -0400, Dan Winship wrote:
> Murray Cumming wrote:
> > I wouldn't feel optimistic about a code of conduct that didn't represent
> > our current consensus.
> ...
> > However, there's no shortage of people saying both that
> > - Some improvement in behaviour is necessary
> 
> These points don't fit together. If we are just making the current tacit
> CoC explicit, then we would expect no change in behavior. If we are
> trying to change behavior, then the CoC can't just represent the current
> consensus.

I would think of the CoC as more of an (intentionally weak) enforcement
mechanism, rather than a change in policy. If someone is being
obnoxious, hopefully someone will drop an email and say something like,
"Hey, try to keep the Code in mind, OK?" It seems that the worry with
such an idea is that people will send emails more like, "Hey you
violated the Code, you're not welcome in GNOME anymore." But we can try
to avoid this with a sort of meta-CoC. Perhaps a paragraph along these
lines:

"* Be reasonable. This Code is just a set of suggestions for polite
behavior. Everyone gets angry from time to time. Don't beat the Code of
Conduct over the heads of others, and don't use it as a basis to bar
people from participation in activities." (I haven't spent a while
honing this language or anything.)

Peter

-- 
Peter Williams / peter newton cx