Behavioral standards in the free software community
Posted Jun 8, 2006 5:00 UTC (Thu) by
cventers (subscriber, #31465)
Parent article:
Behavioral standards in the free software community
Sometimes I wonder to what extent the Linux kernel model works only for
the Linux kernel. I really assume it should be applicable in many other
places (though I think it's clear you need a leader like Linus to make it
happen).
I happen to like this observation in
Documentation/ManagementStyle:
Most people are idiots, and being a manager means you'll
have
to deal
with it, and perhaps more importantly, that _they_ have to deal with
_you_.
It turns out that while it's easy to undo technical mistakes, it's not
as easy to undo personality disorders. You just have to live with
theirs - and yours.
However, in order to prepare yourself as a kernel manager, it's best to
remember not to burn any bridges, bomb any innocent villagers, or
alienate too many kernel developers. It turns out that alienating people
is fairly easy, and un-alienating them is hard. Thus "alienating"
immediately falls under the heading of "not reversible", and becomes a
no-no according to Chapter 1.
There's just a few simple rules here:
(1) don't call people d*ckheads (at least not in public)
(2) learn how to apologize when you forgot rule (1)
The problem with #1 is that it's very easy to do, since you can say
"you're a d*ckhead" in millions of different ways (*), sometimes without
even realizing it, and almost always with a white-hot conviction that
you are right.
And the more convinced you are that you are right (and let's face it,
you can call just about _anybody_ a d*ckhead, and you often _will_ be
right), the harder it ends up being to apologize afterwards.
To solve this problem, you really only have two options:
- get really good at apologies
- spread the "love" out so evenly that nobody really ends up feeling
like they get unfairly targeted. Make it inventive enough, and they
might even be amused.
The option of being unfailingly polite really doesn't exist. Nobody
will trust somebody who is so clearly hiding his true
character.
In a community like LKML, it seems that people being mean are either
tolerated because of their history and value, or they do a very effective
job in isolating themselves and reducing their own value and trust from
the community.
Hence I think behavioral codes aren't really necessary. I'm also not a
woman, and can't speak for any, but I don't think the lack of a behavioral
code has much to do with it.
I watch the mailing list of several projects, and it seems to me that
while people like to be passionate from time to time, these issues seem to
regulate themselves best when left nicely alone.
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