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Remove condesending and patronizing language, reword and delete some setences #70

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Remove condesending and patronizing language, reword and delete some setences #70

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82ef3d4
Remove condescending and patronizing language. Reword some sentences
CoWinkKeyDinkInc Aug 4, 2015
359e0b3
Re-word free speech part
CoWinkKeyDinkInc Aug 4, 2015
5d24971
Restructure and reword more sentences
CoWinkKeyDinkInc Aug 5, 2015
212e25a
Replace entire free speech paragraph
CoWinkKeyDinkInc Aug 5, 2015
77c3d08
Edit a word, add a new one
CoWinkKeyDinkInc Aug 5, 2015
1a37e68
Add a note since some people don't get it
CoWinkKeyDinkInc Aug 5, 2015
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15 changes: 8 additions & 7 deletions README.md
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Expand Up @@ -2,19 +2,19 @@

An easy to reuse open source code of conduct **template** for communities.

Developed by the [@TODOGroup](https://twitter.com/todogroup) to promote code of conducts for open source communities. By participating in this project, you are expected to honor this [code of conduct](http://todogroup.org/opencodeofconduct/#Open+Code+of+Conduct/abuse@todogroup.org).
Developed by the [@TODOGroup](https://twitter.com/todogroup) to promote code of conducts for communities. By participating in this project, you are expected to honor this [code of conduct](http://todogroup.org/opencodeofconduct/#Open+Code+of+Conduct/abuse@todogroup.org).

## FAQ

#### Why a code of conduct?

We strongly believe that a code of conduct helps set the ground rules for participation in communities, and more importantly helps to build a culture of respect and improve diversity. According to the latest [FLOSS survey](http://floss2013.libresoft.es/results.en.html), we have lots of work to do in improving diversity across open source communities.
We all know that a code of conduct helps set the ground rules for participation in communities, and more importantly helps to build a place of respect and improve diversity. According to the latest [FLOSS survey](http://floss2013.libresoft.es/results.en.html), we have lots of work to do in improving diversity across open source communities.

Diversity is the spice of life. Having a diverse contributor community from different backgrounds and organizations will help set your community up for long term success. [Research](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-diversity-makes-us-smarter/) shows that diverse communities are more creative, diligent and innovative.
Diversity is a part of life. Having a diverse contributor community from different backgrounds and organizations will help set your community up for long term success. [Research](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-diversity-makes-us-smarter/) shows that diverse communities are more creative, diligent and innovative.

#### How is this code of conduct licensed?

A very liberal [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The very accommodating license, [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

#### What do you mean that the open code of conduct is a template?

Expand All @@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ It's very hard to develop a one size fits all code of conduct for open source co

#### Can I apply this code of conduct for conferences or events?

It wasn't intended for that purpose.
It wasn't intended for that purpose.

However, we highly recommend the following resources on the topic,

Expand All @@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ Please send us a pull request with your suggestions.

#### Doesn't this impact the right to free speech? Why are you stomping on my rights?

See this XKCD for our feelings on this matter: https://xkcd.com/1357/
In the many countries that do have the right to free speech, this means (with obvious exeptions) the government cannot arrest you for saying anything. Many countries contain free speech in their constitution which can only apply to the government for enforcing or creating laws.
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Frankly I think waving around the XKCD comic as if it's a shield is childish and counter-productive. I fully support removing that line.

As most companies and organizations are owned by private individuals, they are only restricted by laws that apply to people and their businesses. The free speech sections contained in constitutions only apply to the government, restricting the kinds of laws that it can make. So no, this does not impact your right to free speech.
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This is horribly, horribly wrong - freedom of speech is a basic liberty to express opinions publicly or to call for action, by being protected from any and all attempts by anyone to counter this act of expression in any way, except if exigent circumstances or specific types of expression - hate speech, libel, etc.

What that means, is neither individuals, organizations, nor government can limit free speech, and that includes this CoC - if it does limit free speech in any way, it is against plenty of local and quite a few international laws. However, what is true in the XKCD you removed, is that this mostly applies to public expression - there is a long philosophical and legal debate about this, but usually the drilldown is - you can execute free speech in a local park, without limitation, however, you are not allowed to execute your free speech after breaking in to some poor guys apartment. Hence, the definition of public space also applies.

From that and the intended audience, and purpose of the CoC we can kind of deduce that the public space paradigm is really in effect here, because otherwise it would be a private party - not open community. Both can not coexist.

See, as an example, Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations art. 18, art. 19, European Convention on Human Rights art. 10, Act One of the Fundamental Law on the Freedom of Expression of the Kingdom of Sweden, Constitution of the Republic of Latvia art. 100., Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway art. 100, Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms of the Constitution of Canada, etc. etc. There is plenty more.

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I share your concerns @Addvilz. Github is a private company and they no doubt have a de jure right to disregard freedom of expression, but that does not mean they should.

Github is quickly becoming the de facto place for managing open source code, making it a major fixture of online infrastructure. It's similar to Facebook, Youtube, Reddit and Google Search; private companies who hold tremendous power over parts of the net. They allow free expression to prevail on their platforms because they know they have an unwritten social contract with their users. They have no legal obligation to uphold free expression; yet they follow a path of providing protections comparable to the constitutions of western nations.

As a cloud SaaS company, Github has social obligations to its customers who have committed to their platform. Large open source projects have accumulated years of crucial documentation about their codebases within Github's internal code discussion platform. It's even scarier for Developer Tool Startups. These startups, who sell API's to other developers, rely heavily on Github for securing customers and evolving their product. For them, an arbitrary decision to delete a repository means the systematic destruction of their company & their codebase.

When Github disregards free expression, their actions become a threat to the open source software community itself. Even if you could never envision you or those you work with running afoul of this Code of Conduct, many startups and businesses rely on OS software packages created and maintained by other people. When Github users start demanding crucial maintainers be banned from open source projects for having offensive opinions elsewhere on the net -- I fear for my own projects. I might rely on that person's code.

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Reminder that this code of conduct does not apply to all GitHub projects and does not modify the GitHub Terms of Service. It is up to the maintainers of each project to choose the values of their community. See https://github.com/blog/2039-adopting-the-open-code-of-conduct

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@bkeepers We understand that, and there is 100s of other CoCs on github that have more egregious terms than this one, and they're ignored. The difference of course is that this one made it to the official github blog. Github the company is publicly promoting this CoC, and recommending it for everyone's repo.

If your project doesn't already have a code of conduct, then we encourage you to check out the Open Code of Conduct and consider if your community can commit to upholding it. Read more about it on the TODO Group blog.

Since most projects care more about software development and less about politics, this will be the default one to copy/paste in.

Microsoft making Internet Explorer the default browser in Windows circa 1999 didn't seem like a "big deal" prima facie.

The attention brought in some trolls, and that sucks, but there's lots of us trying to help make this a reasonable CoC that's able to universally protect all kinds of people from harassment and discrimination and and let us get back to making awesome software together. :)

Thank you for working with us on this.

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The attention brought in some trolls, and that sucks, but there's lots of us trying to help make this a reasonable CoC that's able to universally protect all kinds of people from harassment and discrimination and and let us get back to making awesome software together. :)

I really appreciate the way you've engaged. Thanks for being patient.

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@atarzwell I completely agree with you - it is usually irrelevant to software development per-se, however, this is not limited to Github, nor to communication directly related to development.

@CoWinkKeyDinkInc honestly, I am not sure how to even address this in a manner that could explain it reasonably well to an average reader.

We could formulate this to something similar to "We respect and support freedom of speech. However, there is time and place for everything - before executing your right, think, is the pull request review really the place to debate political issues? Cake recipes? Favorite cartoon characters?"

This needs refining, however. Freedom of speech is a topic so broad and so debated, it is really hard to define it's relevance and impact to this in one or two sentences. I could literally write at least 5 doctoral thesis on this topic alone...

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@Addvilz I'll try rewriting it so it explains how it's a template and how you can change it. If I can't, I just reverse it back to the comic link for someone else to try.

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I completely agree with you - it is usually irrelevant to software development per-se, however, this is not limited to Github, nor to communication directly related to development.

I've been viewing this as a CoC for Community Software Development. You're correct that my arguments are moot if we're talking about more than just that.

We could formulate this to something similar to "We respect and support freedom of speech. However, there is time and place for everything - before executing your right, think, is the pull request review really the place to debate political issues? Cake recipes? Favorite cartoon characters?"

I like this, rather than re-iterating what free speech is, it explains how "free speech" applies here. Rather than just "No free speech for you, we're not to government" it's, explains the relationship,

My try:
"We respect and actively solicit your opinion and expertise in the context of this project, and want you to be able to freely articulate your ideas. While you're opinions outside of the scope of this project should be respected, if they do not relate to this project they are a distraction and if they hamper development by derailing conversations, cluttering issue trackers, or are being used to mock, harass or intimidate other developers they will not be welcome here. For persistent or egregious violations, we reserve the right to, as a community, remove you. If you are having your right to contribute to this project infringed upon by someone else in the community, please contact the abuse team explained in $abuse_team_section"

It covers the spirit, but reiterates things already mentioned elsewhere in the CoC. Reading over it, it clearly needs work, but I hope it's conveys my $0.02 on "defining free speech" vs "Explaining how free speech relates to the CoC". Human words aren't my strong point.

I'll let @CoWinkKeyDinkInc take another try at it. Their way with words has been great so far. 😃

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At least in the United States, freedom of speech/expression doesn't apply on private property, even when it's publically accessible. Case in point: I can't protest inside my local shopping mall because it's private property, but anybody can still walk in.

GitHub is a shopping mall. It's not a government owned plot of land, it's a place with open doors and a set of rules. Don't like the rules? Make your own repo.

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@atarzwell You're right, it's rare for personal or political matters to ever be brought up in issue pages. Though, it is beginning to happen more due to the proliferation of novel projects outside the realm of strictly coding. Right now it appears Github has a low threshold of tolerance before it will act on removing a pages it finds questionable. This controversial satirical coding language being a prominent recent example.

Anyways, as for the actual line of text in question, I question the need for this FAQ question section at all. The original "question" is really just written as a set up to make a statement about free speech. Rather than contort a section to fit an already awkward question, I recommend removing the question completely.

Instead, replace it with a more general statement elsewhere about how the Code of Conduct strives to uphold a dual commitment to freedom of expression and the protection of people from targeted harassment. Keeping with the informal tone of the document, even a general statement like this could be effective at getting the point across:

We value freedom of expression on the internet; but with rights comes responsibilities. In short: [Don't be an asshole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_No_Asshole_Rule). Act in good faith.  Follow the [golden rule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule).

EDIT: @atarzwell I didn't see your new proposed wording until after I posted but I also like it. Its a very smart idea for Github issue pages to be protected specifically from incidents such as was observed on the Opal page.


## Thanks

Expand All @@ -61,4 +62,4 @@ We all stand on the shoulders of giants across many open source communities. We'
* Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/about/about-ubuntu/conduct
* Contributor Covenant: http://contributor-covenant.org/
* Geek Feminism: http://geekfeminism.org/about/code-of-conduct/
* Citizen Code of Conduct: http://citizencodeofconduct.org/
* Citizen Code of Conduct: http://citizencodeofconduct.org/
30 changes: 13 additions & 17 deletions index.md
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Expand Up @@ -5,50 +5,46 @@ version: v1.0

This code of conduct outlines our expectations for participants within the **[COMMUNITY]** community, as well as steps to reporting unacceptable behavior. We are committed to providing a welcoming and inspiring community for all and expect our code of conduct to be honored. Anyone who violates this code of conduct may be banned from the community.

Our open source community strives to:
Our community strives to:

* **Be friendly and patient.**
* **Be welcoming**: We strive to be a community that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. This includes, but is not limited to members of any race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, colour, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and physical ability.
* **Be considerate**: Your work will be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision you take will affect users and colleagues, and you should take those consequences into account when making decisions. Remember that we're a world-wide community, so you might not be communicating in someone else's primary language.
* **Be respectful**: Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behavior and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It’s important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one.
* **Be careful in the words that we choose**: we are a community of professionals, and we conduct ourselves professionally. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants. Harassment and other exclusionary behavior aren't acceptable.
* **Try to understand why we disagree**: Disagreements, both social and technical, happen all the time. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively. Remember that we’re different. The strength of our community comes from its diversity, people from a wide range of backgrounds. Different people have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why someone holds a viewpoint doesn’t mean that they’re wrong. Don’t forget that it is human to err and blaming each other doesn’t get us anywhere. Instead, focus on helping to resolve issues and learning from mistakes.
* **Be careful in the words that you choose**: We are a community made of many different people, and we conduct ourselves politely. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants. Harassment and other exclusionary behavior aren't acceptable.
* **Try to understand why others may disagree**: Disagreements, both social and technical, happen all the time. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively. Remember that we’re different. The strength of our community comes from its diversity, people from a wide range of backgrounds. People have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why someone holds a viewpoint doesn’t mean that they’re wrong. Don’t forget that it is human to make errors and mistakes and that blaming each other doesn’t get us anywhere. Instead, focus on helping to resolve issues and learning from mistakes.

## Definitions

Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

- Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, race, age, regional discrimination, political or religious affiliation
- Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, or lack thereof, physical appearance, body size, race, age, regional discrimination, political or religious affiliation
- Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment
- Deliberate misgendering. This includes deadnaming or persistently using a pronoun that does not correctly reflect a person's gender identity. You must address people by the name they give you when not addressing them by their username or handle
- Physical contact and simulated physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like “*hug*” or “*backrub*”) without consent or after a request to stop
- Deliberate misgendering. This includes using one's previous name and persistently using the pronoun that does not reflect the person's gender identity. You must address people by the name they give you when not addressing them by their username or handle
- Threats of violence, both physical and psychological
- Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm
- Deliberate intimidation
- Stalking or following
- Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes
- Sustained disruption of discussion
- Unwelcome sexual attention, including gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behaviour
- Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others
- Unwelcome sexual attention, including gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behavior
- Constant attempts of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others
- Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease
- Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent except as necessary to protect others from intentional abuse
- Deliberately releasing or sharing an individual's or an organization's personal information without permission (privately or publicly) except as necessary to protect others from intentional abuse
- Publication of non-harassing private communication

Our open source community prioritizes marginalized people’s safety over privileged people’s comfort. We will not act on complaints regarding:
Our open source community prioritizes people’s safety over people’s comfort. We will not act on complaints regarding:
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This neutral language is far more professional than the original.


- ‘Reverse’ -isms, including ‘reverse racism,’ ‘reverse sexism,’ and ‘cisphobia’
- Reasonable communication of boundaries, such as “leave me alone,” “go away,” or “I’m not discussing this with you”
- Refusal to explain or debate social justice concepts
- Communicating in a ‘tone’ you don’t find congenial
- Criticizing racist, sexist, cissexist, or otherwise oppressive behavior or assumptions
- Communicating in a ‘tone’ you don’t like
- Criticizing racist, sexist, or otherwise discriminatory behavior or assumptions


### Diversity Statement

We encourage everyone to participate and are committed to building a community for all. Although we will fail at times, we seek to treat everyone both as fairly and equally as possible. Whenever a participant has made a mistake, we expect them to take responsibility for it. If someone has been harmed or offended, it is our responsibility to listen carefully and respectfully, and do our best to right the wrong.

Although this list cannot be exhaustive, we explicitly honor diversity in age, gender, gender identity or expression, culture, ethnicity, language, national origin, political beliefs, profession, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and technical ability. We will not tolerate discrimination based on any of the protected
characteristics above, including participants with disabilities.
Although this list cannot be exhaustive, we treat people the same, regardless of age, gender, gender identity or expression, culture, ethnicity, language, national origin, political beliefs, profession, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and technical ability. We will not tolerate discrimination based on any of the protected characteristics above, including participants with disabilities.

### Reporting Issues

Expand All @@ -59,7 +55,7 @@ If you experience or witness unacceptable behavior—or have any other concerns
include them as well. Your account of what occurred, and if you believe the incident is ongoing. If there is a publicly available record (e.g. a mailing list archive or a public IRC logger), please include a link.
- Any additional information that may be helpful.

After filing a report, a representative will contact you personally, review the incident, follow up with any additional questions, and make a decision as to how to respond. If the person who is harassing you is part of the response team, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. If the complaint originates from a member of the response team, it will be handled by a different member of the response team. We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse.
After filing a report, a representative will contact you personally, review the incident, follow up with any additional questions, and make a decision as to how to respond. If the person who is harassing you is part of the response team, it will be handled by a different member of the response team. If the complaint originates from a member of the response team, it will be handled by another person in the response team. We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse.

### Attribution & Acknowledgements

Expand Down