> > The problem with the longer text, such as the Strange Loop one[1], is that > it's manifestly _very_ hard to come up with a text that doesn't radiate > censoriousness; and however much this isn't the literal implication of the > text, it does implant the notion that the reader or the community has > behaviour problems. That text does not radiate 'you are welcome' -- it > tells me, 'we have so many gits roaming the corridors of our conference > that we have to police them'. In its phrasing, a text like this appears to > presume that the reader is an undersocialised thug, who needs to be given > an extensive but non-exhaustive list of things to remember not to do. One > has to carefully suppress one's initial reaction to it, and smile sweetly.
Bluntly, if someone finds the admonition to refrain from harassment "censorious", then it is likely they are exactly the sort of person that a Code of Conduct is in fact *designed* to make feel unwelcome. This is a feature, not a design flaw. On Mon, Jun 19, 2017 at 9:13 PM, Stephen De Gabrielle < spdegabrie...@gmail.com> wrote: > I would suggest that it is more important to get a COC on the RacketCon > website than it is to argue over the wording. I would suggest that every > day that passes without a CoC on the website adds to the risk that possible > racketcon participants might decide not to go... to the detriment of the > Racket community. > > I really love how welcoming this community is - even more than I love the > ideas you put into or expressed with Racket. It is your greatest strength. > > Kind regards > > Stephen > On Mon, 19 Jun 2017 at 18:55, Norman Gray <nor...@astro.gla.ac.uk> wrote: > >> >> Greetings. >> >> On 19 Jun 2017, at 16:18, John Berry wrote: >> >> > Nothing about a document saying "hey, don't be an ass" implies that >> > the >> > reader themselves, or the community, are asses. Only that the >> > community >> > values not being an ass, and those who might wish to join that >> > community >> > and not be an ass are welcome, and that those who have had to deal >> > with too >> > many asses will hopefully find fewer here. >> >> If the document literally said just 'hey, don't be an ass', or 'don't be >> a git', or 'c'mon, behave', then that would be fine. Perhaps it could >> have a footnote saying 'Surely you can tell when you're being a git -- >> if you for some reason have difficulty with this, then see [link]'. A >> text like that presumes that the reader is grown-up, but indicates, for >> the avoidance of doubt, that adult civility is indeed expected in the >> meeting. >> >> The problem with the longer text, such as the Strange Loop one[1], is >> that it's manifestly _very_ hard to come up with a text that doesn't >> radiate censoriousness; and however much this isn't the literal >> implication of the text, it does implant the notion that the reader or >> the community has behaviour problems. That text does not radiate 'you >> are welcome' -- it tells me, 'we have so many gits roaming the corridors >> of our conference that we have to police them'. In its phrasing, a text >> like this appears to presume that the reader is an undersocialised thug, >> who needs to be given an extensive but non-exhaustive list of things to >> remember not to do. One has to carefully suppress one's initial >> reaction to it, and smile sweetly. >> >> Also, any text like that almost inevitably acquires a legalistic air, >> and just screams out for disputation, and the reddit thread... >> >> > For the unconvinced, I really appreciated Graydon Hoare's perspective >> > on >> > why he implemented the Rust CoC. >> > https://www.reddit.com/r/rust/comments/6ewjt5/question_ >> > about_rusts_odd_code_of_conduct/didrult/ >> > https://www.reddit.com/r/rust/comments/6ewjt5/question_ >> > about_rusts_odd_code_of_conduct/dif1xvb/ >> >> ...seems to corroborate this. >> >> To clarify, this remark is about communication and presentation. The >> underlying wish to encourage civility is entirely laudable, and the >> experience of being on the wrong end of careless or careful incivility >> would be entirely unpleasant and deplorable, and a conference should aim >> to discourage such incivility by any available effective mechanisms. >> >> If, after all, the only effective mechanism is a rule-book such as is >> being discussed, then can I commend the FreeBSD code [2] which I think >> communicates the underlying goals very well, even though it's primarily >> intended to cover behaviour online, rather than face-to-face. To my ear >> it benefits from a very slightly old-fashioned air, including the rather >> old-fashioned implication that 'we're sure this stuff doesn't really >> need to be said, but since you ask...' >> >> Best wishes, >> >> Norman >> >> >> [1] https://www.thestrangeloop.com/policies.html >> [2] https://www.freebsd.org/internal/code-of-conduct.html >> >> -- >> Norman Gray : https://nxg.me.uk >> SUPA School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, UK >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Racket Users" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to racket-users+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > -- > Kind regards, > Stephen > -- > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Racket Users" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to racket-users+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
