[erlang-questions] Announcing Erlang.org Code of Conduct

Wed Mar 18 16:51:27 CET 2015

An interesting about security cameras is that most of them aren't actually
wired up to anything (and lets not get into whether anybody is even
watching)
What a security camera *does* do is give mind pause.
If, _just that one time_  your inner devil might tempt you into slipping
that $1 bar of chocolate into your pocket, the realization that there is a
security camera over there is invariably sufficient to prevent you from
doing so.
And in most places, that is reason enough to put a security camera in place
(and usually, quite visibly too, otherwise what would be the point?)

I trust the point is made...

Cheers

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 4:32 PM, Joe Armstrong <erlang@REDACTED> wrote:
>
> I like top posts:
>
> Why:
>
> 1) People have short span of attention - they only read the first few
> lines, then decide
> whether they want to read the rest. I know for a fact that people
> follow links near the top of my
> blogs and not near the end - the stuffs so boring they don't get to the
end.
>
> 2) Interleaving replies with previously posted text often results in a
> mess where it's impossible
> to see who said what, especially if their are multiple interleaving. I
> have recently heard of
> deliberate manipulation of previously published text, in attempt to
> manipulate a discussion.
>
>  Separately posted articles makes it clear who said what and the
> postings can be digitally signed
>
> 3) Top postings aren't really at the top - the subject line in the
> mail is at the top.
>
> 4) The topmost posting is often the most interesting and an indication
> that a topic is
> worth of a discussion.
>
> -- on niceness etc.
>
> Would I want to live in a world where everybody was nice?
>
> (this would make an interesting essay topic - there is not sufficient
> space to answer here :-)
>
> My view on this is that there are two types of behavioral standards
>
> a) what you were taught as a kid - "share your toys" - "stop hitting
Tommy"
>     and what the social norms of your tribe are
> b) what the laws of the land are - "do not thump people"
>
> I don't see what we need something in the middle - bullying, general
> nastiness to the extent
> that it is criminal needs no action.
>
> Telling adults how to behave at conferences seems very strange to me -
> Adults should *know*
> the rules of their tribe and the laws of the land. If they break these
> spoken or unspoken rules
> there will be consequences.
>
> I read Gordon's mail on this and was horrified that he had come across
> behavior that
> would break standards a) and b) - I don't see how writing more rules
> will change behavior.
> Laws that are enforced probably do (slowly) change behavior. Nasty
> people will be nasty
> and not stop being nasty because of more rules. Their already are
> rules which they don't obey.
>
> On the very odd occasion where I've come across really bad behavior I
> have taken the people
> aside and just told them that I do not accept their behavior and told
them to
> <furry animal - cos my mum said I'm not allowed to use *that* word> off.
>
> Tricky subject ...
>
> I think just "being nice"  doesn't do justice to the problem
>
> Lady Hartley's rules did after all take 356 pages.
>
> Interestingly about half of the book was a "Manual of Politeness" -
> Being polite never does any harm.
>
> So we should not say "this code is crap" we should say
>
> "having perused my learned colleagues code and admired it for its
> elegance, structure and beauty,
> I have however found one small element where in my humble opinion it
> might be slightly improved .."
>
> Cheers
>
> /Joe
>
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 3:24 PM, Jesper Louis Andersen
> <jesper.louis.andersen@REDACTED> wrote:
> >
> > On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 2:32 PM, Gordon Guthrie <gguthrie@REDACTED>
wrote:
> >>
> >> I am introducing a CoC for Erlang events because I have become aware of
> >> sexual assaults against female engineers at tech events (some of which
I
> >> have attended).
> >
> >
> > While somewhat tangential to this discussion, I think this is the right
move
> > for events/conferences. Whenever you have an incident, it will often be
> > against a female engineer because statistics says so. And you better
come
> > proactively prepared to handle the incident, so you don't have to begin
> > drawing in information once it happens. It can get pretty heated. I'd
argue
> > conference organizers needs to educated  about human psychology to
handle
> > the situation, as you will risk dealing with the darker parts of the
human
> > mind. Law enforcement doesn't get educated in the subject for fun: they
deal
> > with heated arguments on a daily basis. As a conference organizer you
can't
> > a priori claim to have the same level of education and experience, so
I'd
> > suggest that the responsible people make sure they have the necessary
> > knowledge.
> >
> > It is also worth mentioning that culture plays a role. An event where
people
> > come from all over the world means the risk of misinterpretation is much
> > higher than normal. Which in turn means that what is taken for a
resounding
> > "NO" in one culture might not elicit the same cues in another. Knowing
how
> > to defuse such situations before they explode is highly beneficial, and
this
> > is where a CoC can level the playing field among several cultures for an
> > event.
> >
> > As for the horror stories in the news, several factors plays a role.
News
> > media are vultures for these stories, because they generate ad revenue.
A
> > large part also has to do with what I colloquially call "outrage
culture" in
> > which relatively small incidents gets blown up to the point where the
> > outrage overtakes the narrative. At this point, due to the amplification
> > factor of social networking, anything can happen, and it usually ends in
> > misery for every party involved. These two factors ensures you can't
ever be
> > fully guarded against a horror story, even if you try very hard[0].
> >
> > [0] Scott Aaronson, the quantum computing complexity theorist, provides
an
> > ever so eloquent introduction to online shaming culture
> > http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=2221 which I heartily recommend.
> >
> > --
> > J.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
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--
Mahesh Paolini-Subramanya
That tall bald Indian guy..
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