Re: Revising the Code of Conduct
On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 6:30 AM, Wouter Verhelst <wouter@debian.org> wrote:
> On 21-05-13 11:37, Norbert Preining wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> On Di, 21 Mai 2013, Wouter Verhelst wrote:
>>> 1. Do not flame, use foul language, or in general be abusive or
>>> disrespectful towards other people on the mailinglists or elsewhere
>>
>> And who defines that?
>
> The community as a whole.
>
>> If you can give me a definition of "foul language" or "abusive"
>> or "disrespectful" I would be happy.
>>
>> The old code of conduct was only containing "foul", which also
>> was already too much. Nobody can be declared authorative in
>> deciding what is foul/abusive language.
>
> Actually, if you read it carefully, you'll find that the first item in
> our current code of conduct reads as follows:
>
> The mailing lists exist to foster the development and use of Debian.
> Non-constructive or off-topic messages, along with other abuses, are
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^
> not welcome.
>
> I've simply merged it with some other items into one "be polite"
> guideline.
>
> Yes, it's hard to spot; the current code of conduct doesn't read very
> well. It's part of the reason why I want to revise it ;-)
>
>> Short example: People from Siena (Italy) have a tendency for strong
>> words, very strong words. And between friends it is very common.
>> What is foul/abusive here?
>
> It is certainly true that it is very hard to define "foul" or "abusive"
> language, which is why I'm not attempting to do that. There's a fairly
> large gray area between "polite behaviour" and "abusive behaviour",
> which includes things like late-night emotional messages that one
> regrets the day after, cultural differences, and unwanted puns that
> could be construed to be offensive.
>
> I think any code of conduct should be interpreted to allow people to
> make mistakes. This is why I added another paragraph explaining what to
> do when people fail to adhere to the CoC, stressing that they may have a
> bad day or may be unaware of any offensive intent. Do you think I should
> clarify that some more?
I'm wondering if there can be a guidelines/advice section also? For
example, perhaps we want to capture something along the lines of (The
wording needs a ton of tweaking): Please remember that Debian is a
multicultural organization, with members from around the world, who
speak a variety of native languages. Please think twice about how
someone might take your words in the context of their own culture. In
all cases, please remain respectful and professional in your dealings
with other project members, especially if you do not know them well.
Conversely, when reading communications from other project members, do
bear in mind cultural differences.
> --
> This end should point toward the ground if you want to go to space.
>
> If it starts pointing toward space you are having a bad problem and you
> will not go to space today.
>
> -- http://xkcd.com/1133/
>
>
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