This Code is not exhaustive or complete. It is not a rulebook; it serves to distil our common understanding of a collaborative, shared environment and goals. We expect it to be followed in spirit as much as in the letter.
- Version: 1.0 [view history]
Recovery is about reaching those who are still suffering.
We want a productive, happy and agile community that can welcome new ideas in a complex field, improve every process every year, and foster collaboration between groups with very different needs, interests and skills.
We gain strength from diversity, and actively seek participation from those who enhance it--we are people who normally would not mix. This code of conduct exists to ensure that diverse groups collaborate to mutual advantage and enjoyment. We will challenge prejudice that could jeopardise the participation of any person in the project.
The Code of Conduct governs how we behave in public or in private whenever the project will be judged by our actions. We expect it to be honoured by everyone who represents the project officially or informally, claims affiliation with the project, or participates directly.
We strive to:
Be considerate: Our work will be used by other people, and we in turn will depend on the work of others. The support provided by 12-Step Programes has helped many alcoholics avoid a low bottom and prevented many alcohol-related deaths. Any decision we take will affect users and colleagues, and we should consider them (future editors, newcomers, curious, etc.) when making decisions. Users may wish to remain anonymous for any number of reasons; it is not our place to decide what another person is comfortable sharing publicly or privately.
Be respectful: Disagreement is no excuse for poor manners. We work together to resolve conflict, assume good intentions and do our best to act in an empathic fashion. We don’t allow frustration to turn into a personal attack. A community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one.
Take responsibility for our words and our actions: We can all make mistakes; we understand that we can make mistakes just as easily as anyone else. We continue to take personal inventory and when we are wrong, promptly admit it. If someone has been harmed or offended, we listen carefully and respectfully, and work to right the wrong. We take only our own personal inventory.
Be collaborative: What we produce is a complex whole made of many parts, it is the sum of many dreams. Collaboration between teams that each have their own goal and vision is essential; for the whole to be more than the sum of its parts, each part must make an effort to understand the whole.Collaboration reduces redundancy and improves the quality of our work. Internally and externally, we celebrate good collaboration. Wherever possible, we work closely with upstream projects and others in the free software community to coordinate our efforts. We prefer to work transparently and involve interested parties as early as possible--typically when a reasonable demonstration is available.
Value decisiveness, clarity and consensus: Disagreements, social and technical, are normal, but we do not allow them to persist and fester leaving others uncertain of the agreed direction. We expect participants in the project to resolve disagreements constructively. When they cannot, we may seek guidance from structures with designated leaders to arbitrate and provide clarity and direction.
Ask for help when unsure: Nobody is expected to be perfect in this community. Asking questions early avoids many problems later, so questions are encouraged, though they may be directed to the appropriate forum. Those who are asked should be responsive and helpful; those directed toward "beginner documentation" should not assume they are above reviewing it.
Step down considerately: When somebody leaves or disengages from the project, we ask that they do so in a way that minimises disruption to the project. They should tell people they are leaving and take the proper steps to ensure that others can pick up where they left off. When possible, ownership/control should be shared across multiple roles/contributors.
Lead responsibly: We all lead by example, in debate and in action. We encourage new participants to feel empowered to lead, to take action, and to experiment when they feel innovation could improve the project. Leadership can be exercised by anyone simply by taking action, there is no need to wait for recognition when the opportunity to lead presents itself.
Value discussion, data and decisiveness: We gather opinions, data and commitments from concerned parties before making a decision. We expect leaders to help teams come to a decision in a reasonable time, to seek guidance or be willing to make the decision themselves when consensus is lacking, and to take responsibility for implementation.
The poorest decision of all is no decision: clarity of direction has value in itself. Sometimes all the data is not available, or consensus is elusive. A decision must still be made. There is no guarantee of a perfect decision every time--we prefer to err, learn, and err less in future than to postpone action indefinitely. We remember the importance of taking responsibility for our word and actions.
Be an open meritocracy: We invite anybody, from any walk of life, to participate in any aspect of the project. Our community is open, and any responsibility can be carried by any contributor who demonstrates the required capacity and competency.
Avoid drive from self-will: We recognize that our own will is often flawed and littered with fear and selfish motivations. We take time to seek the advice from others whom we can go to for critical feedback. At times, we may need to dig in and do the work and hope that it was "the right thing," while understanding that the work may have "missed the mark." We recognize these as learning opportunities that pave the way for further growth. We do not forget that the ultimate goal is to reach the newcomer.
A good leader does not seek the limelight, but celebrates team members for the work they do. Leaders may be more visible than members of the team, good ones use that visibility to highlight the great work of others.
When in doubt, ask for a second opinion.
This Code of Conduct (CoC) is based on Ubuntu Code of Conduct v2.0 with various modifications intended to follow the spirit of 12-Step Programs.
The Recovery Source Code of Conduct is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. You may re-use it for your own project, and modify it as you wish, just allow others to use your modifications and give credit to the Ubuntu and Recovery Source projects.