A Code of Conduct

The openSUSE project board has proposed a code conduct for mailing lists and IRC. This would be in addition to the existing Guiding Principles, mailing list netiquette guide and IRC rules.

There seems to be a trend among open source projects to adopt a code of conduct. As the number of people participating on mailing lists and IRC channels increases, so does the level of poorly stated questions, off-topic chatter and other annoyances. As levels of frustration increase so does the potential for rudeness. Whether a poster intends to be rude, or is only perceived to be rude makes little difference. The international nature of this communication almost ensures there will be some misunderstandings based on culture and language.

So do codes of conduct really work? They can, but often they do not. If the code is not enforced then there is no incentive for anyone to read the code, much less follow it. If the code is too actively enforced it will stifle communication. Somewhere in between there must be a happy medium. Finding it can be a challenge for even the most diplomatic of enforcers.

There are no quick fixes for the problems that come with active channels of communication. There are many documents throughout the web that urge people to be polite and helpful, how to ask better questions and how to provide better answers. LWN readers may be more aware of them than the average netizen. It is up to the aware to educate the unaware in as kind and gentle a manner as possible.

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The last sentence makes only sense if the first "the" is replaced by a "to".

I will completely disagree with the assertion that code of conducts don't work. They create a
condition wherein people going into a debate know that they have to be civil. I have watched
the same people be civil on an Ubuntu mailing list/forum/etc and then not be on another
projects mailing list/forum/etc.

The major challenge with adopting a CoC after the project has been formed is that then you get
into the debate about what it should say.

(Full disclosure: I sit on the Ubuntu Community Council, which mediates disputes about the
Ubuntu CoC)

CORRECTION:

The _openSUSE board_ has proposed the Code of Conduct.

Ciao, Marcus

The presence of a code of conduct might be useful.  As a former LUG organizer, I discovered
the value of having an 'offtopic' mailing list, in addition to our main list.  Almost nothing
ever gets posted there, but it's convenient to say, "Please move this discussion to the
offtopic mailing list."

Rather than moving, the offtopic conversation would generally stop there.

Having a mechanism for dealing with people who are being rude/annoying is probably sufficient,
even if it rarely actually gets used.