Authority

Posted Sep 28, 2018 9:01 UTC (Fri) by Thomas (subscriber, #39963)
In reply to: Authority by neilbrown
Parent article: The kernel's code of conduct, one week later

> I personally don't think we need a good "code of conduct" nearly as much as we need good "conduct".
> People often copy what they see stronger people modeling.
> Compassion and forgiveness go a lot further than rules and regulations.

Hear, hear!

Thanks for adding common sense.

Authority

Posted Sep 30, 2018 1:19 UTC (Sun) by daniel (guest, #3181) [Link] (3 responses)

Yes, +1 to you and Neil. But good conduct doesn't just happen, it requires individual effort. It is not something we are born with, at least, not most of us, but rather it is something we learn. Maybe it would be helpful to understand the Code of Conduct as less of a rule book and more of a teaching aid.

Authority

Posted Oct 2, 2018 0:02 UTC (Tue) by neilbrown (subscriber, #359) [Link] (2 responses)

> and more of a teaching aid.

I'm in favour of a document which serves as a teaching aid. I don't think the current CoC looks much like one.

I sometimes do volunteer work with children. The organizers include lots of training (some of it is a legal requirement) relating to providing a safe environment.
This is training for people who's intentions are good, but may have limited experience.
Things that stick in my mind are:
- "a side hug is a safe hug"
- "never be alone with a child"

These things may seem overly cautious, but when you don't know what another person's background is, it really is better to have simple rules like this than you always think it is safe to rely on your own judgement.

In the kernel community we might easily be interacting with people who have very different experiences and expectations and values that we do. Just saying that doesn't help a lot. Giving practical wisdom, like the above, can.
This is why I like "Address the code, not the coder". It is certainly no guarantee, and sometimes it might seem excessively cautious. But like the above, it is simple, and it is safe.
A CoC that give practical advise like this - a bit like checkpatch, but for human interactions - could be very valuable.

Authority

Posted Oct 3, 2018 0:18 UTC (Wed) by daniel (guest, #3181) [Link] (1 responses)

The Debian code of conduct succeeds very well at giving practical advice: https://www.debian.org/code_of_conduct
Link to kernel code of conduct for convenience: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/li...

I think the Debian code of conduct is a better document than the kernel code of conduct. However, the latter is far superior to the (flippantly named) code of conflict. It's progress.

In concrete terms, the Debian code of conduct describes specific desirable behavior under each generic heading. The kernel code of conduct only provides generic headings. On the other hand, the kernel code of conduct gives equal prominence to desirable and undesirable behavior, a point in its favor. For some reason not clear to me, the kernel code of conduct describes undesirable behavior more specifically than desirable behavior. It would be a stronger document if the language was more consistent.

So as an English composition or a teaching aid, I only give the code of conduct a C+. But as a positive statement of intent to promote a collegial working environment, A+.

Authority

Posted Oct 4, 2018 9:27 UTC (Thu) by codeofdrama (guest, #127444) [Link]

Here's an idea I had yesterday. State publicly what standard of conduct, you would like to be held to. That is, encourage others to let you know, when you haven't met your own standard. Write down this standard of conduct, or reuse an existing one, and link to it in your e-mail signature, Twitter profile, or other places, where people can easily find it. For example:

"I attempt to hold myself in all interactions on this medium to the <a href="https://example.com/codeofconduct.html">Example Standard Code of Conduct</a>."

As long as it's not in conflict with community standards, I think this could be an even more powerful way to signal intent, especially if this standard is higher than the community one.

What do you think?