| (This story became flagged between the time I finished this comment and the time I submitted it. I used "vouch" to unflag so I could post the comment anyway, then "unvouch" to undo my vouch. While it was vouched, it got upvotes and this comment got upvotes, leading me to believe that there is interest in discussing this, but I'll leave it to others to make that decision) The proposed code of conduct is terrible, because of this unclear section: This Code of Conduct applies both within project spaces
and in public spaces when an individual is representing
the project or its community.
What is a "public space" and what counts as "representing the project or its community"?For example, suppose Alice [1] is a core contributor to PHP and they adopt this code of conduct as written. On her Facebook public biographical information she proudly lists her PHP affiliation. She also mentions her hobby of writing adult-oriented Harry Potter fan fiction, and links to her stories at fanfiction.net. These stories are full of sexualized language and imagery. Her author page at fanfiction.net also cites her PHP affiliation. Is Facebook a "public space"? Is fanfiction.net a "public space"? Is listing her PHP affiliation on those sties count as "representing the project or its community"? This is not just a theoretical issue. The author of that code of conduct submitted an issue to a project on Github that was not using a code of conduct trying to convince them to remove someone who tweeted something she thought was transphobic, on the grounds that he mentioned the project in his Twitter profile and so his statements reflect on the project [2]. [1] I'm using Alice as a generic name here. If there are any people named Alice who are PHP contributors, this is not a reference to them. [2] https://github.com/opal/opal/issues/941 PS: Swift is using the same code of conduct. I sent them an email asking how they interpret these things, and their response was: We want to clarify with you that “representing the project
or its community” in the context of “public spaces” refers
to behavior at Swift-oriented events, and not to individual
social/online profiles or unrelated interests.
PPS: The author of this code of conduct has stated that version 1.4 will expand that unclear section by adding: Due to their strong association with the project, core
contributors are always seen as actively representing it.
See https://github.com/CoralineAda/contributor_covenant/issues/1... |
It's always fascinating to learn about mechanisms I've never even heard about, either by such comments or by dang's mails telling you to do X.