On Wed, Jan 23, 2019 at 2:49 AM Lukas Kahwe Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 23, 2019 at 1:17 AM Larry Garfield <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > Greetings, FIGians. > > > > This has been bounced around in back channels on and off for a while, so > I think it's finally time to make it official. I propose that we > officially adopt the Code Manifesto[1] as our official standard of behavior. > > > > Specifically, as follows: > > > > https://github.com/php-fig/fig-standards/pull/1143 > > > > WHY? > > > > First off, I want to be clear that I am NOT making this recommendation > in response to any current issue. I am not aware of any current issue that > would require invoking or even discussing invoking the guidelines listed > here. FIG has been delightfully boring in that regard for quite some time > and, "good lord willin' and the creek don't rise", it will stay that way. > > > > That of course is the best time to discuss such matters, as they can be > looked at from a reasonably objective and dispassionate perspective. The > definition of expected behavior of current official FIG members is quite > vague and wishy washy (by design), and having clearer up-front expectations > is good should the need ever arise. > > > > WHY THE MANIFESTO? > > > > A number of organizations and projects have of late adopted the > "Contributor Covenant" as their code of conduct. My concern with the > Covenant is that it is a very negative document; in contrast, the Manifesto > provides guidelines of good behavior rather than an enumeration of bad > behavior. In my experience, a positive document tends to encourage the > desired behavior better than a negative one. > > We had a brief discussion on this point via IRC a few days ago. While > such a document is a very small step forward, I personally think that > the manifesto lack of naming problematic behavior is its biggest > weakness, since it does very little to assure people that you are > willing to name problematic behavior when it occurs, when you cannot > even do so in the rules you publish. > I tend to agree with Lukas here, and have a bit of background to share. A few years ago, Zend Framework adopted Code Manifesto to govern our projects, for many of the same reasons Larry has stated: we like the emphasis on positive guidelines of acceptable behaviour over an enumeration of punishments for bad behaviour. In practice, it's been problematic, for a number of reasons. When unacceptable behaviour is observed, there's no clear contact to report to. This leaves people either waiting and hoping somebody will step in, or leaving the conversation to avoid the person. Additionally, when somebody does step in (generally somebody with moderation rights in whichever community forum the interactions are occurring on), there's then questions: - What behaviour was observed? How is it against the code? - What direction should be provided to the user to prevent future issues? - Is banning necessary? If so, how long? Should it ever be permanent? Essentially, a code without an explicit process for calling out violations and dealing with them makes addressing problems entirely subjective and at the whim of those with moderation powers. In terms of reporting, reporting MUST be able to be done anonymously, to prevent retribution by the accused against the accuser; people who abuse the rules are simply more likely to retaliate. Without this, members of the community have no safe way to report that prevents further abuse. In sum: I love the Code Manifesto as a guideline for how people should interact within the community. However, it's not a code of conduct; a code of conduct needs to outline the specific behaviours that will trigger actions, how to report these safely, and what actions may be taken. These are required to ensure a safe and fair process. -- Matthew Weier O'Phinney [email protected] https://mwop.net/ he/him -- 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]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/php-fig/CAJp_myVEKMD17e8amh-cKJo7qkHq6fDL5o7api1WTd18KsDZFw%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
