Re: Appropriate escalation (or non-escalation) re rude emails

[Sam Hartman <hartmans@debian.org>]

>>>>> "Don" == Don Armstrong <don@debian.org> writes:

    Don> On Mon, 30 Oct 2017, Sam Hartman wrote:
    >> 3) Similar to 2. I don't think you can take off any hats you do
    >> have when sending such mails. If you have a role in our account,
    >> antiharassment, conduct, listmaster, moderation, or other related
    >> processes, you can't really ever give that up when talking to
    >> people about conduct. People will hear, and to some large extent
    >> should hear your message with the hat, even if you intend it
    >> without the hat.
    >> 
    >> And so, I think you need to take the same level of responsibility
    >> and care for anything unofficial that you would for something
    >> more official, because it's subject to the same potential for
    >> abuse.

    Don> Taking care and responsibility is appropriate (and I believe
    Don> everyone in these difficult roles does so.)

    Don> However, taking the same level of care and responsibility would
    Don> necessitate running any message I send by all of the other team
    Don> members before sending it.[1] That would mean I'll never point
    Don> out sub-optimal behavior until it reaches a level which is bad
    Don> enough that it's worth wasting everyone else's time to craft
    Don> such a warning. [Usually after multiple complaints.]

So, when you do that, it sounds like you're trying to duck
accountability.
It sounds like you're telling me that if I have a problem with your
actions, I cannot complain about it as an listmaster action.  And yet,
since you are a listmaster, some day you may choose to act as a
listmaster.


And since it has a similar chilling effect on speech, I'm very
uncomfortable with that approach.
If I had to choose between you sending personal warnings that had no
accountability and you only acting after reviewing with the entire rest
of the team, I'd be more comfortable with the project in which you
didn't send the warnings until they rose to the level where the entire
team needed to be involved.
But that seems a false dichotomy to me.

It seems like you could act as an individual listmaster who has not
reviewed things with the rest of the team.
"It's my opinion as an  individual listmaster that you are violating our
code of conduct...  If you disagree, you can talk to me or the rest of
the listmasters..."

By acting as an individual listmaster, you make it clear that I have a
path for a second opinion: asking the other listmasters.  But you also
make it clear that if the community has concerns about the aggregate
actions of the individual listmasters, we can also take that up with the
listmasters.
So, you can send mails  promptly without seeking review, provided the
other listmasters are OK with that.
If they aren't, well, that's a fairly good sign you shouldn't do it as
an individual either.

--Sam