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

[Loïc Hoguin]

On 03/13/2015 04:25 PM, Fred Hebert wrote:
> On 03/13, Loïc Hoguin wrote:
>> I see little need for a code of conduct that basically says "be nice". It's
>> common sense after all.
>>
>
> Then the code of conduct shall not be a problem for you.
>
> What the code does, however, is put a context around when and how
> someone can be reprimanded on the list, and for what reasons. It also
> gives a path of escalation in case of disagreement. Without one, this is
> basically left implicit to whoever is swinging the banhammer, and who
> you know or can talk to.
>
> It sets expectations and context over what is expected from members
> *and* from moderators.

I am not so concerned about my behavior. Read it or not, most people 
will post fine. I am more concerned about the side effects of rules.

When you write down rules, you always end up with some unrelated people 
trying to enforce these rules, despite it not being their job. This can 
create unnecessary conflicts. A number of these people will also try to 
enforce the word of the rules rather than their spirit.

There also doesn't seem to be in the CoC an explanation of the process 
to either defend yourself (as you point out, not everyone is native 
English speaker, so misunderstanding happen and they do quite 
regularly), nor is there an explanation for how to redeem yourself.

This is a problem to me because every few months I manage to offend 
someone without meaning it. A few weeks ago I got attacked when all I 
tried to do was make a compliment, to give you an example.

And as Benoit points out, it's a concern that we don't know who the 
moderators are and how they are selected. I have seen way too often 
moderators ban people on a whim due to personal issues rather than rules 
being broken.

-- 
Loïc Hoguin
http://ninenines.eu