Behavioral standards and power

Behavioral standards and power

Posted Jun 9, 2006 4:01 UTC (Fri) by dang (subscriber, #310)
In reply to: Behavioral standards and power by wilck
Parent article: Behavioral standards in the free software community

There is a flip side here, too, I think. You see a lot of flamage coming from people on top when you get the following mix:

- the person on top is a heavy lifter and plays a gatekeeper role
- the flamee is a newbie who hasn't done her or his homework
- about basic design or style
- about how work flows

You get frustration on both sides here. The gatekeeper wants to help but is frustrated because the submitter didn't do homework which makes it difficult to help and also eats up precious time ( because skilled people willing to do grunt work are in hot demand in open source projects ), and the submitter doesn't know initially what the just got themselves in to.

Typically everything shakes out quickly and you see a good working relationship, but it can be rocky at first. Which ain't none of it about a code of conduct, really, but about setting new contributors expectations well before they submit...and maybe about overloaded gatekeepers.

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