I think the big problem with this CoC is that it triggers Poe's Law -
it's impossible to tell if it's serious or a joke without further
context. I know I spent a good 10 minutes trying to decide either way
when I first saw this thread a few days ago; now I know from the below
post that it's serious.
The consequence of this is that a good chunk of the criticism out there
is because people think it's a joke and treat it accordingly. Some more
clarification in the opening paragraph on the reasoning behind it and
it's non-jokey nature - as below - would probably ameliorate this
component of the CoC's contentiousness.
On 2018-10-22 16:29, Richard Hipp wrote:
On 10/22/18, Chris Brody <chris.br...@gmail.com> wrote:
Looks like that happened this morning.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18273530
I saw it coming, tried to warn you guys in private.
There is indeed a reactionary hate mob forming on twitter. But most
of the thoughtful commentators have been supportive, even if they
disagree with the particulars of our CoC, They total get that we are
not being exclusive, but rather setting a standard of behavior for
participation in the SQLite community.
I have tried to make that point clear in the preface to the CoC, that
we have no intention of enforcing any particular religious system on
anybody, and that everyone is welcomed to participate in the community
regardless of ones religious proclivities. The only requirement is
that while participating in the SQLite community, your behavior not be
in direct conflict with time-tested and centuries-old Christian
ethics. Nobody has to adhere to a particular creed. Merely
demonstrate professional behavior and all is well.
Many detractors appear to have not read the preface, or if they read
it, they did not understand it. This might be because I have not
explained it well. The preface has been revised, months ago, to
address prior criticism from the twitter crowd. I think the current
preface is definitely an improvement over what was up at first. But,
there might be ways of improving it further. Thoughtful suggestions
are welcomed.
So the question then arises: If strict adherence to the Rule of St.
Benedict is not required, why even have a CoC?
Several reasons: First, "professional behavior" is ill-defined. What
is professional to some might be unprofessional to others. The Rule
attempts to clarify what "professional behavior" means. When I was
first trying to figure out what CoC to use (under pressure from
clients) I also considered secular sources, such as Benjamin
Franklin's 13 virtues (http://www.thirteenvirtues.com/) but ended up
going with the Instruments of Good Works from St. Benedict's Rule as
it provide more examples.
Secondly, I view a CoC not so much as a legal code as a statement of
the values of the core developers. All current committers to SQLite
approved the CoC before I published it. A single dissent would have
been sufficient for me to change course. Taking down the current CoC
would not change our values, it would merely obscure them. Isn't it
better to be open and honest about who we are?
Thirdly, having a written CoC is increasingly a business requirement.
(I published the currrent CoC after two separate business requested
copies of our company CoC. They did not say this was a precondition
for doing business with them, but there was that implication.) There
has been an implicit code of conduct for SQLite from the beginning,
and almost everybody has gotten along with it just fine. Once or
twice I have had to privately reprove offenders, but those are rare
exceptions. Publishing the current CoC back in February is merely
making explicit what has been implicit from the beginning. Nothing
has really changed. I did not draw attention to the CoC back in
February because all I really needed then was a hyperlink to send to
those who were specifically curious.
So then, why not use a more modern CoC? I looked at that too, but
found the so-called "modern" CoCs to be vapid. They are trendy
feel-good statements that do not really get to the heart of the matter
in the way the the ancient Rule does. By way of analogy, I view
modern CoCs as being like pop music - selling millions of copies today
and completely forgotten next year. I prefer something more enduring,
like Mozart.
One final reason for publishing the current CoC is as a preemptive
move, to prevent some future customer from imposing on us one of those
modern CoCs that I so dislike.
In summary: The values expressed by the current CoC have been
unchanged for decades and will not be changing as we move forward. If
some people are uncomfortable with those values, then I am very sorry
for them, but that does not change the fact. On the other hand, I am
open to suggestions on how to express those values in a way that
modern twitter-ites can better understand, so do not hesitate to speak
up if you have a plan.
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