On Sat, Nov 22, 2014 at 2:40 PM, Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd) <drkir...@kirkbymicrowave.co.uk> wrote: > > On 21 Nov 2014 22:22, "Dima Pasechnik" <dimp...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> I'd say it's OK to have such a code, but it's not really OK to actively >> enforce >> it. Such an active enforcement would only be counterproductive, if not >> outright impossible. >> >> Dima > > Is there any point in having something that is not enforced? That would just > seem a waste of time to me. > > I note that you used the word "active" a couple of times. Do you think a > code of conduct would lead to any benefits due to "passive" means, and if so > how?
You ask about the value of a non-enforced code. I think it's valuable to have something to point to, both for setting expectations for new contributors and a reminder for long-timers when things get heated. It allows one to succinctly re-direct trolls rather than feed them. It gives further weight to requests for civility: pointing to the code makes it clear that I am not making a request on behalf of myself, rather on behalf of the entire community. (Corollary, if you think your behavior is acceptable to the majority of the community, call for a vote to change the code. That'll be pretty rare...) Explicit, external enforcement has downsides as well. It greatly complicates things. It adds an (often unnecessary) level of formality. It often leads to the quagmire of drawing drawing of hard lines on such squishy topics. It diminishes the motivation for "ordinary" users to call out such behavior as that is "someone else's job." Though public shaming should be avoided, one of the strongest ways to send a message (to the offender and everyone else) about our values is via public requests rather than private complaints. Also, what if one doesn't agree with the enforcers? Is there an appeals process? How small of an issue is too small? These are things I'd rather avoid unless it becomes absolutely necessary (which I don't think is the case--we're generally doing pretty well). What we're after here is a good culture, and cultures are neigh impossible to enforce but can be guided. I think it would serve us better for the community remain self-policing than abdicate the responsibility elsewhere (e.g. a separate sage-abuse group). An "un-enforced" code/guidelines can help with this. - Robert -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sage-devel" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sage-devel+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
