Fedora considering mailing list moderation

[Posted May 15, 2009 by corbet]

From:		"Paul W. Frields" <stickster-AT-gmail.com>
To:		fedora-advisory-board-AT-redhat.com
Subject:		Proposal for ML conduct
Date:		Thu, 14 May 2009 14:46:25 -0400
Message-ID:		<20090514184625.GL3514@localhost.localdomain>

The Board had a long discussion today about the increasingly toxic
nature of discussions on Fedora Project mailing lists.  The meeting
minutes are available on the wiki[1], as always.  I wanted to point
specifically to the proposal currently before the Board.


The problem:  The Board is disappointed at the degradation in tone and
signal of some Fedora Project lists.

The proposal:

To resolve this, the Board appoints one or more Board members or other
Board-approved volunteers to monitor Fedora Project mailing lists.
The Board will warn violators of our "Be excellent to each other"
policy in the form of a one-day list moderation (with notice to the
poster).  Messages not allowed through will be returned to the poster
with explanation as to why they were not allowed.  If after one day of
moderation, the violation continues, the case will be brought to the
Board for further action, which could include permanent moderation,
complete removal from the project, or other remedies. 
  
  Being excellent to each other == No personal attacks, profanity
  directed at people or groups, serious threats of violence, or other
  things seen by the monitor as to be purposefully disrespectful.


* * *
[1] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Board/Meetings/2009-05-14

-- 
Paul W. Frields                                http://paul.frields.org/
  gpg fingerprint: 3DA6 A0AC 6D58 FEC4 0233  5906 ACDB C937 BD11 3717
  http://redhat.com/   -  -  -  -   http://pfrields.fedorapeople.org/
  irc.freenode.net: stickster @ #fedora-docs, #fedora-devel, #fredlug

to post comments

Fedora considering mailing list moderation

Posted May 15, 2009 17:42 UTC (Fri) by NightMonkey (subscriber, #23051) [Link]

If only other distributions would be so aggressive about keeping their community communications kind and fun. Gentoo's lack of a "be excellent to each other" policy on their development mailing lists has driven many good skilled folks away, and stopped new folks from joining their effort. Really strange, as they have successfully fostered a respectful and good willed community spirit on their user forums and in the Gentoo user IRC channels by enforcing a general rule of showing mutual respect. Perhaps others will be influenced by this should it work well for Fedora.

Fedora considering mailing list moderation

Posted May 15, 2009 22:43 UTC (Fri) by stickster (guest, #40146) [Link] (2 responses)

It's not just some community members -- it's quite a lot of community members, and some of them are great contributors not just to Fedora but to the entire free software ecosystem. Missing out on their input because they have to fight through unnecessary, stomach-turning invective is a big loss for the Fedora community. Since the Board is charged with making sure that Fedora continues to grow and thrive as a healthy community, it's incumbent upon us to do what's necessary to make that happen. It would be wonderful if self-policing worked, but we've been relying on that policy for five years, and the Board feels it's obviously not working.

It's my hope that people will remember that the goal of free software is something bigger than ourselves. It's about giving to your fellow human, and it's impossible to do that effectively while you're slapping the person next to you. It remains to be seen how we'll codify our standards, but there's no doubt we must remember that the means are as important as the end.

Wonderful!

Posted May 16, 2009 6:27 UTC (Sat) by robla (subscriber, #424) [Link]

I am really glad to see this trend in free software. I hope what you're doing serves as a positive example for others.

Fedora considering mailing list moderation

Posted May 18, 2009 8:42 UTC (Mon) by AlexHudson (guest, #41828) [Link]

I think it's hugely important that this step be taken. I'm a relatively new Fedora developer, and there are many threads on -devel I simply wouldn't step into the middle of because of what is (IMHO) unprofessional behaviour.

In addition, I think it needs to go further - it needs to apply to places like Bugzilla too. My experience with it has been uniformly great so far - dealing with people like Adam Williamson, Ben Skeggs, Kevin Fenzi et. al. is nothing short of a delight. But I think most can also name people (in any distro, not just Fedora) who are less pleasant to work with.

I also think action is being taken at the right time. It's not a huge problem right now, but it could be a much bigger one in the future. Re-establishment of manners for that minority that have forgotten them is nipping the problem in the bud.

Nothing in Excess

Posted May 16, 2009 16:24 UTC (Sat) by jimmybgood (guest, #26142) [Link]

Moderation == Nothing in Excess

The board seems to be following one of the three maxims at the Delphi oracle. I don't give them much of a shot at the first.