[Bahamut]

This post seems to be complaining about oppression, but doesn't seem to address the opposite end, oppressive attitudes/terminology used to intimidate those advocating for social equality. It offers no pathway to making the situation better.

This sort of discussion seems to go in an endless loop since one side wants to advocate for equality & try to use as many tools as possible to that end, while the other side does not seem to like the heavyhandedness & prefer to maintain the status quo as a reactionary measure, which does nothing to fix this disconnect or the fundamental issues.

It would be more productive to acknowledge the problems that plague others wanting to enter the ecosystem, and try to do things about it than to complain that one side is acting in an undesired manner - the status quo is already undesired as it is.

[exstudent2]

The problem is that these CoCs are being pushed on open source projects not because there is or was a problem with that project, but simply to push the politics of the CoC authors.

Was there actual bad behavior going on in the PHP project that prompted the CoC to be submitted? In the case of Opal, there wasn't. One of the core contributors said something on his personal Twitter that offended someone, then people came into the project with CoCs demanding his head.

Anyone can fork a project. That's how you deal with a toxic community, not strong arm yourself into a position to judge and oust existing community members and use the media to shame those that oppose you.

[Bahamut]

Forking is an extraordinary measure, and often not practical - that is usually a very poor option.

Personally, I disagree with your approach to dealing with a toxic community. Having done moderation in various forums/chat rooms & now open source for almost 12 years, that's usually an approach that encourages poor behavior through insufficient action. As to a solution, I don't know what would be the best way to prevent it, but I'm not so naive to suggest there is an easy one-sided path to avoid it.

[exstudent2]

The thing is these communities aren't actually toxic. Large open source projects take patches based on merit. Lots of people don't even have human identifiable usernames or avatars on Github and yet get patches accepted.

The real toxic behavior that's been happening in open source over the past 5 or so years is the influx of non-developers forcing their political causes into projects and distracting from actual development while bringing negative media attention to OSS via clickbait/ragebait friendly stories.

[thescribe]

I think you stated that better than I ever could.

I perceive a code of conduct as colonization, and the arguments/drama as a beachhead.

[avn2109]

>> "...one side wants to advocate for equality..."

The core premise of the linked article is that "equality" is merely a smokescreen used by one side to mask more nefarious objectives.[0]

[0] Note that I am not making any claims about the truth or falsehood of that premise, but rather am making a descriptive statement about the article's contents.

[AcerbicZero]

I'm no expert on the topic, but bemoaning the death of nuance and the invasion of identity politics doesn't automatically count as an attempt to maintain the status quo. It's just a rejection of a specific solution and/or the methods such a solution calls for.

[forgottenpass]

For all the talk about an endless loop, your post doesn't seem to escape the very loop you bemoan.

I don't think the framing you present is helpful. Your post assumes all disagreement with the means is from people who disagree with the ends (are "reactionary"). Acknowledging that some may agree with ends but not means is the easiest way to start the process of breaking the loop and moving to meaningful conversation.

[mooseburger]

What are the problems that plague others wanting to enter the ecosystem? Assuming you mean some form of discrimination, I can't imagine an open source maintainer rejecting patches due to someone's race, sexuality, etc.

In industry, the only somewhat legit barrier I have heard is the influx of brogrammers, but that's mainly annoying, and it affects anyone who doesn't mix with frathouse culture (i.e. nearly all good programmers).

[thescribe]

How is the status quo undesired?

I contribute to open source, I get to use quality open source, and so does anyone else who cares to.