Hi James (et al.), > Goodness gracious! > Do all those who feel so positive about CoCs not see how that paragraph > above is just so bloody soul destroying?
No. Please explain. > I don't need a document written by a committee of people that I have no > say over (i.e. what we do in the real world) and done need to be told > what I can say within the LP community. I already know how to be civil, > whether my brand of civility is yours, is nothing I care about. I recently accompanied a few days of auditions for a new musical. The creators and entire artistic panel were from Newfoundland, Canada. One actor came in and, just before singing, asked if she should “use a Newfie accent”. The rest of the audition was a complete waste of time for her: once she had said "the 'N' word", there was literally zero chance of her getting the gig, or ever being called back for any work by those creators or directors. Was the panel too sensitive? Maybe to some people’s minds. That’s beside the point. Here’s the point: I *guarantee* that if there had been a "Code of Conduct", posted outside the audition room, which included something like "The word 'Newfie' is deeply offensive to the people of Newfoundland; please do not use it here.", that actor (a) wouldn’t have said it, and (b) would consequently have had an excellent chance at getting the gig [because, as it turns out, she is quite talented and did a great job in the audition, modulo the 'unforgivable' offence]. I think it’s useful, kind, and helpful to offer advice to people entering an unknown community on how they should expect to behave and be treated in that community. It’s their prerogative to not join the community, either because of the content of such a document or its very existence. > I've recently have a belly-full of being told that X is good because > "...everyone else is doing it" or that Y is needed because ... "...well > it's just 'easier' if we do it ..." without any real justification. We lost at least 30 [!!] person-years of extremely high-level programming assistance because of the past tone in this community — yes, I can justify that claim with concrete data — and we’re currently in danger of losing more, indefinitely, because a few people in the community are unwilling to collaborate on a piece of prose which would offer that we try to be a welcoming community. To my mind, that’s a real wasted opportunity, and sufficient justification to at least consider a CoC — a document which, for the record, I would have fell afoul of multiple times in the 17 [!!] years I’ve been posting. > Apple carts unfortunately get upset once in a while. That is just life. So if someone goes around regularly knocking over everyone’s cart — intentionally or otherwise — and as a result drives the sellers with the best apples to another village, there’s no benefit in trying to figure out a way to direct the person’s energies to more constructive and less disruptive purpose(s)? I’m sure glad the real world doesn’t work on that model. Best regards, Kieren.
