[ruby-core:73157] [Ruby trunk - Misc #12004] Code of Conduct

[rubyamateur@wbml.net]

Issue #12004 has been updated by Ruby Amateur.


Pat Allan wrote:

> I can't say I'm getting quite the vibe you are regarding a thirst for retribution. My take is more that it's not enough to say 'be nice to each other' but also 'we have some idea of what to do when people aren't nice'. Otherwise it's not a Code of Conduct, just a mission statement - it may make people happy, but doesn't address *how* we support each other's right to be safe. Being clear about how incidents are handled provides accountability: if shit things happen, then we know they'll be dealt with.

I think it remains a valid factor to consider given the controversial nature of Ehmke's past actions. Here is my evidence to suggest this: https://github.com/opal/opal/issues/941

1. In this thread Ehmke is upset about purported transphobic comments stated on a medium of a project maintainer that was outside the context and scope of the project he works on.

2. Ehmke requests a high-value contributor is removed from the project.

3. Ehmke has never in the past showed signs or indicated that she was part of the community.

4. The project maintainer in question not once, ever, stated his opinions, which is a product of his culture, in relation to the project.

If that isn't a case of over reaction and retribution, then I don't know what is. After this ordeal, Ehmke salvaged the situation to push forth a code of conduct which they accepted. 

I think Ehmke's intolerance of somebody's politics or culture is no reason whatsoever to inflict retribution in a project that is unrelated to what was said. I think formalizing enforcement is also a way to individually or group shame a project for being more benevolent and resorting to remediation despite not providing the intended punitive measurements expected by the person reporting a code of conduct violation.

(Disclaimer:I avoided using gender pronouns for Coraline Ada Ehmke because I'm genuinely unsure what is appropriate but I don't mean any disrespect.)

> Looking outward for inspiration: from what I understand, the push to have a Code of Conduct for Go came from within their core team, and perhaps similarly for Swift. I think that's very helpful, because it means their teams have a passion to walk the talk. If Matz and the rest of the core team don't have that drive, I don't think it can be forced, and I'm not sure what the way forward is. I do not like the idea of separating technical and community responsibilities completely - I can easily see that leading to a disconnect between the two groups, focused on completely different aspects of the Ruby community. If there was some group that included both some Ruby core team members and others in the community, that might be better? Also, Go's Code of Conduct is quite detailed, which is not a bad thing at all: https://golang.org/conduct (I'm not sure how their Working Group is managed, mind you.)

There is a spectrum of a liberal to authoritative code of conduct. I think a code of conduct should be designed to fit what the community wants, and I think the Ruby community is divided but leaning towards are more liberal view. Bureacracy is also another pertinent concern which a project should not get inovled in if it doesn't have a past history of issues. Furthermore, nothing is *set in stone.* Perhaps in the future the community may come across an unsavoury person, or group of people, that warrants a formal system of banning or expulsion. But as things stand, I do not believe that time is now.

I think a valid compromise for those who require a code of conduct with a formalized code for enforcment should perhaps wait for when a situation that requires a need. Perhaps the community can police themselves fine on an individual matter basis using Matz discretion. I'm not one to predict how things will be.

> Jeremy and others have mentioned that they're not keen to list all potential types of harassment, and I can understand that - having a list that covers absolutely everything is difficult (if not impossible). However, I've also found (especially through helping manage Ruby Australia's Code of Conduct and Anti Harassment Policy) that those suggesting the specific types of harassment are those who have experienced them personally, and can you blame them from wanting to be sure they don't experience that again? For wanting to be sure that this community will not tolerate similar behaviour? (Again, I don't have an answer here, I just want to point out there *are* reasons for having such lists.)

I can agree with listing every point of harassment but I think demonstrating reasonable "intent" to harm a specific individual is also required. This again becomes a bureaucratic process that even legal courts have difficulty with.

> To be clear: I would love to see a Code of Conduct for Ruby. I don't view it as an indication of a problem, but rather an indication that those behind Ruby care about their community being safe and respected, and are willing to act to ensure that as much as possible. I don't want it because I'm supposedly part of some authoritarian conspiracy - I want it so the Ruby community becomes even stronger and safer and welcoming for everyone, especially those who often are victims of bigotry and harassment.

I think the Ruby community (albeit myself as a newcomer) should celebrate that for 20 years it has always been a safe and respectful community. I agree the code of conduct as suggested by Jeremly, or using one such as PostgreSQL, or OpenSSL which focus on positive behavior and not punitive measures are great fit for Ruby today. However there should always be an option to change this or perhaps review this at a later stage (let's say 1 year from the time the code of conduct goes into effect) to determine if a more authoritative code of conduct is required.

My 2c coming from a 1 year Rubyist. I would like to thank the community for being excellent and helping me to learn and use Ruby effectively.


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Misc #12004: Code of Conduct
https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/12004#change-56384

* Author: Coraline Ada Ehmke
* Status: Assigned
* Priority: Normal
* Assignee: Yukihiro Matsumoto
----------------------------------------
I am the creator of the Contributor Covenant, a code of conduct for Open Source projects. At last count there are over 13,000 projects on Github that have adopted it. This past year saw adoption of Contributor Covenant by a lot of very large, very visible projects, including Rails, Github's Atom text editor, Angular JS, bundler, curl, diaspora, discourse, Eclipse, rspec, shoes, and rvm. The bundler team made code of conduct integration an option in the gem creation workflow, putting it on par with license selection. Many open source language communities have already adopted the code of conduct, including Elixir, Mono, the .NET foundation, F#, and Apple's Swift. RubyTogether also adopted a policy to only fund Ruby projects that had a solid code of conduct in place.

Right now in the PHP community there is a healthy debate about adopting the Contributor Covenant. Since it came from and has been so widely adopted by the Ruby community at large, I think it's time that we consider adopting it for the core Ruby language as well.

Our community prides itself on niceness. What a code of conduct does is define what we mean by nice. It states clearly that we value openness, courtesy, and compassion. That we care about and want contributions from people who may be different from us. That we pledge to respect all contributors regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, or other factors. And it makes it clear that we are prepared to follow through on these values with action when and if an incident arises.

I'm asking that we join with the larger Ruby community in supporting the adoption of the Contributor Covenant for the Ruby language. I think that this will be an important step forward and will ensure the continued welcoming and supportive environment around Ruby. You can read the full text of the Contributor Covenant at http://contributor-covenant.org/version/1/3/0/ and learn more at http://contributor-covenant.org/. 

Thanks for your consideration and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.




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