A few months ago, we had a discussion on debian-project about how mailing list bans should be handled. https://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2013/10/msg00090.html Although there was no statement from the listmasters to this effect on the public thread, they evidently considered the thread to reach a consensus, and for the past few months mailing list bans (which are infrequent) have been communicated to the project on debian-private. A few days ago, an individual was banned from all Debian mailing lists, and debian-private was informed. What was different about this particular ban is that the banned party responded to the ban, cc:ing me as the initiator of the above thread, and expressed his preference that the ban be made public. Since the main objection to publishing bans was that it would damage the banned party's reputation, and the banned party in this case prefers the ban be made public, I see no reason not to publish this information. I will in any case refrain from naming the banned individual in this mail; his name will of course be visible in the messages linked below. Here is the text used to inform the individual of the ban, shared with permission of the recipient. The listmaster who applied the ban included additional rationale when informing debian-private; I leave it to the listmasters to decide whether they want to provide this information here. > I'm writing to you in my role as one of the debian listmasters. We > currently have several complaints from users about your behaviour on > debian-user-catalan@lists.debian.org [1][2]. > This behaviour is not acceptable on our lists and will not be tolerated. > You may have a look on the code of conduct [3] and the netiquette, if you > plan to communicate with other opensource projects in the future. > Therefore we decided to ban you from all of our lists. > [name deleted] - on behalf of the debian listmasters > P.S. this ban is not public unless you publish it on your own > [1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-user-spanish/2013/12/msg00539.html > [2] https://lists.debian.org/debian-user-catalan/2014/01/msg00012.html > [3] http://www.debian.org/MailingLists/#codeofconduct I would like to publicly repeat my thanks to the listmasters for their continued service in dealing with such thorny issues. I am personally in agreement with the listmasters' decision to impose a ban, not because of the messages cited by the listmaster, but because of a different message in these threads: "No, Mònica, no. Són bromes en context, tant per tema com per temps, i fetes amb mesura. Què no t'agraden? Perfecte, ningú us obliga a combregar." [trans] "No, Monica, no. They're jokes in context, as much for their theme as for the timing, and made to measure. You don't like them? Fine, nobody is forcing you to go to communion." https://lists.debian.org/debian-user-catalan/2013/12/msg00055.html In other words: in a thread discussing why it was inappropriate, even on Spain's equivalent to April Fool's Day, to make posts suggesting that the upcoming MiniDebConf in Barcelona will be sex testing the speakers, this individual's response is that "if you don't like it, you don't have to read it". The original message was unacceptable and worthy of censure; but people make mistakes and learn from them. What makes this ban-worthy is the lack of remorse shown for the upset caused, and the implicit promise to continue such posts as he sees fit. Debian has ratified a diversity statement which says that all contributors will be treated with respect, and that all contributors should feel safe and welcome in Debian regardless of background or identity. This ban demonstrates that the diversity statement is not empty words; it is a principle that the Debian community has made a committment to. -- Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world. Ubuntu Developer http://www.debian.org/ slangasek@ubuntu.com vorlon@debian.org
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