*TL;DR*: I could not disagree with this course of action more strenuously, I feel it has and will continue to cause real damage to FIG and to the PHP community, and it appears obvious to me that this is a result of a difference in personalities rather than the attempt to expel a truly toxic, damaging member of FIG. I'm extremely saddened and extremely disappointed, and I have no desire to associate with or support a community that would behave in this manner.
I've been following FIG for a while, and have been a big fan and (infrequently vocal) supporter of FIG, the mission, the various PSRs (especially the code standards PSRs and PSR-7). FIG has done *amazing *things for PHP and the PHP community. This thread and associated behavior, in contrast, *feels to me* as if it's a regression into bitterness, the desire to publicly chastise, punish, and expel a member, and is both damaging to FIG and the PHP community at-large. Having read this thread and having reviewed the proffered evidence against Paul (the list of links in Larry's post), I'm having a *very* difficult time interpreting this action as something other than: - We dislike Paul's style of communication - Paul's thought processes and conclusions are, more often than not, at odds with FIG - Paul is therefore an outlier and damaging to the cohesion of FIG - This outlier must therefore be removed in order to restore harmony (for lack of a better word) I submit that this line of reasoning, the conclusion that Paul must be very publically chastised and ideally expelled, and the public call for Paul's removal, will be chilling to substantive, spirited discussion. The logical result is a lack of thoughtful disagreement and vocal support of one's positions for fear of being next on the "chopping block". I would also submit that there is a level of cognitive dissonance involved, wherein a FIG member is being punished *publically* for their *public* disagreements with personalities, policies, and proposals. I urge FIG, in the strongest manner possible, to reconsider this action and to consider the damage being done to both FIG and the PHP community at large. Bowing out, Jeremy On Thursday, June 23, 2016 at 2:53:03 PM UTC-5, Michael Cullum wrote: > > Hi all, > > Over the past 8 weeks, we [the secretaries] have had a number of voting > members, former project representatives and well known community members > alike approach us regarding a situation they believe is being detrimental > to the continued success of the FIG and the harmony in the group. It is, > essentially, the impact of Paul M Jones on the harmony of the mailing list > and the impact his contribution is having on making this group welcoming or > pleasant to be involved with. > > To avoid putting words in mouths but still convey the common grievances, > we’ll quote from those who have complained: > > - > > “This individual is toxic to the group and is therefore directly > affecting the ability of the group to perform its aims” > - > > “I believe this individual is the sole biggest cause of loss of > respect and members for the FIG” > - > > “I stepped down as a voting representative due to this member” > - > > “The presence of this individual makes me not want to contribute or > get involved with to the PHP FIG” > - > > “My main problem with him is that every time I opened a threads lately > to read up, he's getting into some tantrum with other over small > meaningless things. Sometimes he might even be right but honestly I don't > even care whether he is right or wrong. They is just plainly disrupting > the > FIG at this stage. He used to be annoying, but I was fine with that, this > is just disruptive though.” > > > The following complainants said they are happy to be named (Nobody asked > not to be named, but some we never asked if they were happy to be named): > > - > > Ross Tuck - Community figure > - > > Larry Garfield - Drupal project representative > - > > Graham Daniels - PHP League project representative > - > > Fabien Potencier - Symfony project representative > - > > Mike van Riel - PHPDoc project representative > - > > Jordi Boggiano - Composer project representative > - > > Anthony Ferrara - Community figure > - > > Phil Sturgeon - Former project representative and community figure > - > > Christopher Pitt - Former project representative and community figure > - > > Rafael Dohms - Community figure > - > > Marc Alexander - phpBB project representative > - > > Cees-Jan Kiewiet - ReactPHP project representative > > > In total the number of complaints about this individual totals about 20 > however there have also been other concerns aired about this individual > publicly and a number of individuals who contacted us said they in turn had > heard complaints about Paul from others; as a result of this, and being > explicitly asked what we can do/to do something about this situation, > including requests of this specific course of action we are starting this > discussion on PMJ’s membership. It is not the role of the secretaries to > handle this kind of thing or pass judgement on member projects so we are > posting this topic to invite discussion from both sides of the table out in > the open. > > We believe having this discussion going on for too long will not be > conducive to the FIG so a vote [to request a new representative from Aura, > which will result in Aura’s expulsion unless a new representative is > provided] will then commence unless a conclusion has been reached agreeable > by all sides before that point. That vote should then put an end to the > current situation. > > To clarify further, this topic does not indicate the opinion of > secretaries that this project representative should be expelled, but that > we have been asked by a significant number of voting members and community > members to do something about it so we are moving those complaints into > public for discussion by voting members as we can do nothing but move the > discussion and complaints to the mailing list for the attention of voting > members. > > I know this is a difficult discussion to avoid making personal, but please > try and keep it civil and respect self-throttling. People have requested we > ensure we always have two week discussion periods before voting on matters > which means that we will not lock this topic unless we have no other option > open to us but will be issuing temporary mailing list bans on anyone not > respecting rules about civility or self throttling; more than 3 responses > in a 24 hour period will result in a 24 hour temporary ban, as will > repeatedly making posts that cross boundaries into flaming. If rules are > broken multiple times, we will increase the time period of bans. > > Many thanks, > > The Secretaries > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PHP Framework Interoperability Group" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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