#145 Code of Conduct Proposal
Closed: approved 3 years ago by bcotton. Opened 6 years ago by bex.

@marinaz and @bex have been asked by the council to work on a full CoC proposal to update our CoC statement, if needed and provide procedural recommendations. This work will involve research into what already exists, consultation with experts and conversations with various stakeholders, including the legal entity behind Fedora.

Tickets blocked by this ticket are part of the mix and will be resolved when this is resolved. Procedural tickets blocked by this ticket are being considered in this process.

The outcome of this process is a proposal for public debate, discussion, and council vote.


Metadata Update from @bex:
- Issue marked as blocking: #105
- Issue marked as blocking: #106
- Issue marked as blocking: #109
- Issue marked as blocking: #111
- Issue marked as blocking: #122
- Issue marked as blocking: #40
- Issue marked as blocking: #71
- Issue marked as blocking: #91
- Issue marked as blocking: #95

6 years ago

Metadata Update from @bex:
- Issue tagged with: policies

6 years ago

Metadata Update from @bex:
- Issue unmarked as blocking: #106

6 years ago

Metadata Update from @bex:
- Issue unmarked as blocking: #95

6 years ago

Metadata Update from @bex:
- Issue priority set to: Waiting on Assignee

6 years ago

Metadata Update from @bex:
- Issue assigned to bex

6 years ago

Metadata Update from @bex:
- Issue tagged with: code-of-conduct

6 years ago

I have shared a working draft with the council. It is not yet ready for public discussion as it is incomplete and requires legal review.

A conversation with legal is starting ( I hope) this will help us inform our next round of review. The current draft has been tightened up some.

Metadata Update from @bex:
- Issue priority set to: Waiting on External (was: Waiting on Assignee)

5 years ago

Metadata Update from @bex:
- Issue unmarked as blocking: #122
- Issue unmarked as blocking: #71
- Issue unmarked as blocking: #91

5 years ago

Metadata Update from @bcotton:
- Issue assigned to riecatnor (was: bex)

4 years ago

Hi folks,

It has been some time, and a whole new FCAIC later, but this is getting picked back up. I have brushed off the draft that @bex and @marinaz worked on, and have begun working on some small edits and updates. Fortunately, the draft was in a great place when I came to it. I have opened the loop back up with Red Hat's legal department, as we know this is a slow process, so please have patience.

There are two parts of the new Code of Conduct. The actual Code, and Clarifying Statements. The Code is meant to stand as just that, a succinct and to the point code. The Clarifying Statements go into further details such as: reporting details, response process, and consequences.

The Code is what I have focused on to begin, and hopefully I can post a draft here for discussion soon (within a month or two based on legal). Next up will be a thorough dive into the Clarifying Statements, a review of that with legal, and then a post here for discussion.

This process is going to continue to move slowly, though I would like to see it completed within 6 months(or sooner). Let's see.

Cheers!

Hi Fedora Council-

I am here with two updates! First, we have a draft of our planned new Code of Conduct and some sections of the Clarifying Statements ready to publish for discussion. Second, we have decided to implement a Code of Conduct Committee based on the volume of incidents that have occurred within the Fedora Project in the last year. The Committee /= the Council, and the structure and implementation are still in development. As of right now, @mattdm and I are technically on a Committee of two handling incidents.

The Code of Conduct has been thoroughly reviewed, revised, and edited with great care and input from many folks. Fedora’s former FCAIC @bex drafted this some time ago. Since then we have had input from several iterations of the Fedora Council, as well as other Community Architects from Red Hat’s Open Source Project Office, and Red Hat Legal. It has been approved for use by our Red Hat Legal support. Making any substantial changes to the CoC will cause another round of work, reviews, etc, and could delay our process for some time. Please keep this in mind when commenting. Small suggestions for changes in wording can be processed without setting us back.

The Clarifying Statements are a work in progress. The Clarifying Statements are made up of information we want to supply in order to make the CoC effective and to set expectations. This document will be used by the Committee, and will be published with the CoC for the Fedora community to reference. If you feel there are parts missing, they most likely are ;) there are additional materials that will be published once they make sense. The document was created some time ago, and our process has been updated twice since then.

I am posting the Code of Conduct and Clarifying Statements in this comment. There will be an accompanying blog post that will be posted to Council Discussions for further dialogue. This will go through the policy change process and will stay open for two weeks for community comment before moving to a Council vote.

Best~
Marie

Code of Conduct

Fedora Community Code of Conduct

The Fedora Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines that explains how our community behaves and what we value to members and outsiders. The Code of Conduct is a living document and will be updated when and if it is deemed necessary.

The Code of Conduct is not “code” in the sense of being an algorithm or a computer program. The Code of Conduct is not “blindly and algorithmically” executed but is instead enforced by humans making real decisions based on all of the available information and using all available context.

The Code of Conduct does not seek to restrict speech or penalize non-native speakers of English. Instead the Code of Conduct spells out the kinds of behaviors we, as a community, find to be acceptable or unacceptable. The Code of Conduct is, in many ways, the outward embodiment of the Friends component of Fedora’s Foundations.

Our Pledge

In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming environment, we as the Fedora community pledge to collaborate in a respectful and constructive manner, and welcome everyone willing to join us in that pledge. We welcome individuals regardless of ability, age, background, body size, education, ethnicity, family status, gender identity and expression, geographic location, level of experience, marital status, nationality, national origin, native language, personal appearance, race and/or ethnicity, religion, sexual identity and orientation, socioeconomic status, or any other dimension of diversity.

Our channels, mailing lists, and posts should focus on Fedora and on free and open source software and content. We pledge to make participation in our project and our community a harassment-free experience for everyone. We pledge to avoid personal attacks on others, and to avoid inflammatory language and speech that perpetuates discrimination. Furthermore, we pledge to not use the Fedora Project and its platforms as a basis to engage in personal campaigns against other organizations or individuals.

Our Standards

Examples of behavior that contributes to creating a positive environment include:

  • Using welcoming and inclusive language
  • Being kind to others
  • Behaving with civility
  • Being respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences
  • Gracefully accepting constructive criticism
  • Focusing on what is best for the community
  • Showing empathy towards other community members

Examples of unacceptable behavior include:

  • The use of sexualized language or imagery and unwelcome sexual attention or
    advances
  • Initiating controversy for controversy’s sake (including but not limited to sealioning).
  • Saying insulting/derogatory comments and making personal attacks.
  • Repeatedly instigating conflict, and baiting people into arguments
  • Public or private harassment
  • Publishing someone else’s private information, such as a physical or electronic
    address, without explicit permission
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
  • Violent threats or language directed against another person
  • Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or exclusionary statements, even if they were meant as jokes
  • Excessive swearing
  • Unwelcome physical contact
  • Sustained disruption of talks or other events
  • Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting even if the conduct may be legal under the laws of some jurisdiction.

Our Responsibilities

The Fedora Council is committed to enforcing this Code of Conduct in a fair and impartial manner so that Fedora community members are able to participate in the Fedora Project and its associated activities in a safe and respectful environment. To achieve this, the Council has delegated responsibility to a Code of Conduct Committee for clarifying and interpreting the standards of acceptable behavior, responding to and investigating reports of behavior that is not aligned to this Code of Conduct and determining appropriate and fair corrective action in response. The Committee will perform these functions along with the Red Hat Legal team, as appropriate.
The Fedora Community has the right in its sole discretion and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct. Where editing is not practical we shall post a follow up explaining that this does not reflect our standards.

Scope

This Code of Conduct applies in all online and offline project spaces and in all online and offline spaces where an individual is representing the project, its community, or is acting as a community member.

Examples of acting as a community member include:

  • Posting to a Fedora mailing list,
  • Filing a bug with Fedora,
  • Participating in a Fedora communication channel, such as IRC or telegram
  • Contributing to the Fedora Project in any form
  • Using an official project email address
  • Posting via an official social media account
  • Acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event
  • Speaking for fedora or its subprojects at a public event or online video
  • Working in a fedora or related booth or table at an event
  • Participating in a fedora or related technical meetup
  • Serving as an elected or appointed leader in Fedora, including being a member of the Fedora Council

Reporting and Enforcement

Instances of behavior inconsistent with this code may be reported by contacting the Fedora project by filing a private Fedora Code of Conduct ticket at https://pagure.io/CoC/new_issue. If the incident occurs at an event, the local event staff should be contacted in addition to opening a ticket.

Individuals without access to https://pagure.io/CoC/new_issue may send an email to the following address: codeofconduct@fedoraproject.org. This email will be converted into a private Code of Conduct ticket by the Code of Conduct Committee.

All reports will be kept confidential. When we discuss incidents with anyone we will anonymize details as much as we can. This means that the identities of all involved parties will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise or we are required to make disclosures under the law. Additionally, in some cases we may need to disclose this information to other parties at Red Hat. Fedora is not a separate legal entity and therefore has to comply with all requirements imposed upon Red Hat.

Upon our review/investigation of the reported incident, we will determine what action is appropriate based on this Code and its clarifying statements. An incident review will include communication with the reporter and the individual being reported, and an opportunity for both parties to provide an account of the incident.

All complaints will be reviewed and will result in a response. Failure to follow this Code may result in actions including, but not limited to, warnings, temporary suspension, and in extreme circumstances, banning from the Fedora Project. Please note, while we take all concerns/reported incidents raised seriously, we will use our discretion to determine when and how to follow up on reported incidents.

Attribution & License

This Code of Conduct is an edited form of the Contributor Covenant, version 1.4 along with material from the PyCon Code of Conduct and others. The process of dealing with reports is inspired by ideas from the Mozilla CPG Incident Process.

Additional material is drawn from many sources, including:
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Responding_to_reports
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Policy_resources
https://www.ashedryden.com/blog/codes-of-conduct-101-faq
http://safetyfirstpdx.org/training/code_of_conduct/TemplateIncidentResponseGuide.pdf
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-my-restaurant-successfully-dealt-with-harassment-from-customers/2018/03/29/3d9d00b8-221a-11e8-badd-7c9f29a55815_story.html
https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/Pages/1214-workplace-investigations.aspx
https://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/harassment.html

Clarifying Notes and Statements

Clarifications

The Code of Conduct and its associated documents are “living documents.” They will change over time as the Fedora community changes. This supplemental document exists to provide additional background and clarification to the Code of Conduct. All changes to the Code of Conduct and associated documents will be tracked with change information and date of change details in a Change History document maintained by the FCAIC.

Awareness

A Code of Conduct is only effective if people know about it and know how to report an incident when needed. This Code of Conduct and its associated documents will be linked in the footer of all major Fedora Websites and where possible in other project communications.

All events will prominently display our Code of Conduct and publish any additional event specific notes, such as points of contact. If an event allows in-person reporting (see the Reporting Details and Response Process documents for more information), the process for doing this must be prominently displayed.

In person events organized by Fedora must make physical copies of the Code of Conduct available for attendees or make signage about it. Online events must have a link to the Code of Conduct prominently displayed on the event home page. If the platform allows, online events should ask for attendees to agree to abide by the Code of Conduct as part of the event registration.

Who is the Code of Conduct Committee

To be worked out. Right now, the Code of Conduct Committee consists of the FPL and the FCAIC, but this is not sustainable. We need a larger body, which will include Fedora community members selected by the Fedora Council.

Why was the word “contributor” from the Contributor Covenant removed when it was adapted for Fedora?

We need a code of conduct that speaks to everyone who interacts with our community. Many of us may understand the word “contributor” to encompass everyone from a mailing list participant, forum poster, bug reporter, documentarian, designer, developer, etc., but not everyone understands it this way. Additionally, many of our events are attended by users. Speaking about the community is a more clear definition of the individuals covered in this Code.

Metadata Update from @mattdm:
- Issue priority set to: Coming Up (was: Waiting on External)

3 years ago

The Commblog article is now published — let's take further discussion to the linked comment thread, and leave this ticket for the formal, tickety bits.

(I've deleted a few discussion comments from this ticket after making sure they are replicated in the thread.)

Hi Fedora Council,

Based on the discussion on Council discuss thread, I have made a couple of small changes to the Code of Conduct. The changes were reviewed by Red Hat legal, and we are good to move forward with our approval process. As an FYI please note that there are links scattered throughout the code to various Fedora resources, that I am not including here.

The following changes were made:

    • Initiating controversy for controversy’s sake (including but not limited to sealioning).
      Changed to ->
    • Initiating controversy for controversy’s sake (repeatedly asking disingenuous questions under a guise of sincerity)
    • The Fedora Community has the right in its sole discretion and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct. Where editing is not practical we shall post a follow up explaining that this does not reflect our standards.
      Changed to ->
    • Within their respective areas of participation Fedora Community members have the right in their sole discretion and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct. Those Fedora Community members are expected to exercise these rights in alignment with the Code of Conduct.

Best~
Marie

Code of Conduct

Fedora Community Code of Conduct

The Fedora Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines that explains how our community behaves and what we value to members and outsiders. The Code of Conduct is a living document and will be updated when and if it is deemed necessary.

The Code of Conduct is not “code” in the sense of being an algorithm or a computer program. The Code of Conduct is not “blindly and algorithmically” executed but is instead enforced by humans making real decisions based on all of the available information and using all available context.

The Code of Conduct does not seek to restrict speech or penalize non-native speakers of English. Instead the Code of Conduct spells out the kinds of behaviors we, as a community, find to be acceptable or unacceptable. The Code of Conduct is, in many ways, the outward embodiment of the Friends component of Fedora’s Foundations.

Our Pledge

In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming environment, we as the Fedora community pledge to collaborate in a respectful and constructive manner, and welcome everyone willing to join us in that pledge. We welcome individuals regardless of ability, age, background, body size, education, ethnicity, family status, gender identity and expression, geographic location, level of experience, marital status, nationality, national origin, native language, personal appearance, race and/or ethnicity, religion, sexual identity and orientation, socioeconomic status, or any other dimension of diversity.

Our channels, mailing lists, and posts should focus on Fedora and on free and open source software and content. We pledge to make participation in our project and our community a harassment-free experience for everyone. We pledge to avoid personal attacks on others, and to avoid inflammatory language and speech that perpetuates discrimination. Furthermore, we pledge to not use the Fedora Project and its platforms as a basis to engage in personal campaigns against other organizations or individuals.

Our Standards

Examples of behavior that contributes to creating a positive environment include:

  • Using welcoming and inclusive language
  • Being kind to others
  • Behaving with civility
  • Being respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences
  • Gracefully accepting constructive criticism
  • Focusing on what is best for the community
  • Showing empathy towards other community members

Examples of unacceptable behavior include:

  • The use of sexualized language or imagery and unwelcome sexual attention or
    advances
  • Initiating controversy for controversy’s sake (repeatedly asking disingenuous questions under a guise of sincerity)
  • Saying insulting/derogatory comments and making personal attacks.
  • Repeatedly instigating conflict, and baiting people into arguments
  • Public or private harassment
  • Publishing someone else’s private information, such as a physical or electronic
    address, without explicit permission
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
  • Violent threats or language directed against another person
  • Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or exclusionary statements, even if they were meant as jokes
  • Excessive swearing
  • Unwelcome physical contact
  • Sustained disruption of talks or other events
  • Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting even if the conduct may be legal under the laws of some jurisdiction.

Our Responsibilities

The Fedora Council is committed to enforcing this Code of Conduct in a fair and impartial manner so that Fedora community members are able to participate in the Fedora Project and its associated activities in a safe and respectful environment. To achieve this, the Council has delegated responsibility to a Code of Conduct Committee for clarifying and interpreting the standards of acceptable behavior, responding to and investigating reports of behavior that is not aligned to this Code of Conduct and determining appropriate and fair corrective action in response. The Committee will perform these functions along with the Red Hat Legal team, as appropriate.

Within their respective areas of participation Fedora Community members have the right in their sole discretion and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct. Those Fedora Community members are expected to exercise these rights in alignment with the Code of Conduct.

Scope

This Code of Conduct applies in all online and offline project spaces and in all online and offline spaces where an individual is representing the project, its community, or is acting as a community member.

Examples of acting as a community member include:

  • Posting to a Fedora mailing list,
  • Filing a bug with Fedora,
  • Participating in an official Fedora communication channel, such as IRC or telegram
  • Contributing to the Fedora Project in any form
  • Using an official project email address
  • Posting via an official social media account
  • Acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event
  • Speaking for fedora or its subprojects at a public event or online video
  • Working in a fedora or related booth or table at an event
  • Participating in a fedora or related technical meetup
  • Serving as an elected or appointed leader in Fedora, including being a member of the Fedora Council

Reporting and Enforcement

Instances of behavior inconsistent with this code may be reported by contacting the Fedora project by filing a private Fedora Code of Conduct ticket at https://pagure.io/CoC/new_issue. If the incident occurs at an event, the local event staff should be contacted in addition to opening a ticket.

Individuals without access to https://pagure.io/CoC/new_issue may send an email to the following address: codeofconduct@fedoraproject.org. This email will be converted into a private Code of Conduct ticket by the Code of Conduct Committee.

All reports will be kept confidential. When we discuss incidents with anyone we will anonymize details as much as we can. This means that the identities of all involved parties will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise or we are required to make disclosures under the law. Additionally, in some cases we may need to disclose this information to other parties at Red Hat. Fedora is not a separate legal entity and therefore has to comply with all requirements imposed upon Red Hat.

Upon our review/investigation of the reported incident, we will determine what action is appropriate based on this Code and its clarifying statements. An incident review will include communication with the reporter and the individual being reported, and an opportunity for both parties to provide an account of the incident.

All complaints will be reviewed and will result in a response. Failure to follow this Code may result in actions including, but not limited to, warnings, temporary suspension, and in extreme circumstances, banning from the Fedora Project. Please note, while we take all concerns/reported incidents raised seriously, we will use our discretion to determine when and how to follow up on reported incidents.

Attribution & License

This Code of Conduct is an edited form of the Contributor Covenant, version 1.4 along with material from the PyCon Code of Conduct and others. The process of dealing with reports is inspired by ideas from the Mozilla CPG Incident Process.

Additional material is drawn from many sources, including:
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Responding_to_reports
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Policy_resources
https://www.ashedryden.com/blog/codes-of-conduct-101-faq
http://safetyfirstpdx.org/training/code_of_conduct/TemplateIncidentResponseGuide.pdf
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-my-restaurant-successfully-dealt-with-harassment-from-customers/2018/03/29/3d9d00b8-221a-11e8-badd-7c9f29a55815_story.html
https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/Pages/1214-workplace-investigations.aspx
https://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/harassment.html

Clarifying Notes and Statements

Clarifications

The Code of Conduct and its associated documents are “living documents.” They will change over time as the Fedora community changes. This supplemental document exists to provide additional background and clarification to the Code of Conduct. All changes to the Code of Conduct and associated documents will be tracked with change information and date of change details in a Change History document maintained by the FCAIC.

Awareness

A Code of Conduct is only effective if people know about it and know how to report an incident when needed. This Code of Conduct and its associated documents will be linked in the footer of all major Fedora Websites and where possible in other project communications.

All events will prominently display our Code of Conduct and publish any additional event specific notes, such as points of contact. If an event allows in-person reporting (see the Reporting Details and Response Process documents for more information), the process for doing this must be prominently displayed.

In person events organized by Fedora must make physical copies of the Code of Conduct available for attendees or make signage about it. Online events must have a link to the Code of Conduct prominently displayed on the event home page. If the platform allows, online events should ask for attendees to agree to abide by the Code of Conduct as part of the event registration.

Who is the Code of Conduct Committee

To be worked out. Right now, the Code of Conduct Committee consists of the FPL and the FCAIC, but this is not sustainable. We need a larger body, which will include Fedora community members selected by the Fedora Council.

Why was the word “contributor” from the Contributor Covenant removed when it was adapted for Fedora?

We need a code of conduct that speaks to everyone who interacts with our community. Many of us may understand the word “contributor” to encompass everyone from a mailing list participant, forum poster, bug reporter, documentarian, designer, developer, etc., but not everyone understands it this way. Additionally, many of our events are attended by users. Speaking about the community is a more clear definition of the individuals covered in this Code.

Council members, please vote on the final proposal by 2359 UTC on Wednesday 5 May.

Metadata Update from @bcotton:
- Issue priority set to: Next Meeting (was: Coming Up)
- Issue tagged with: ticket-vote

3 years ago

+1

@riecatnor wrote…
Participating in an official Fedora communication channel, such as IRC or telegram

Given #342, could we make a tiny edit on this to "IRC, Matrix, or Telegram"? It would be nice to not patch this later when we get a Matrix homeserver.

How about "including, but not limited to, IRC, Matrix, Telegram or mailing lists". Or just leaving the list off (ie, drop ", such as IRC or telegram")

@kevin Either of your two options sound good to me.

Acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event
-- an appointed probably should probably be a Fedora-appointed

edit: likewise, perhaps add Fedora to each of these:
Using an official Fedora project email address
Posting via an official Fedora social media account

Also, fedora vs capitalized Fedora throughout?

Yes to fixing the capitalization. I don't have strong opinions on the other comments.

After well more than a week, the vote is (+5,0,-0). The new Code of Conduct is approved.

council-docs commit 1b90814 updates the language, which will appear in the next build.

Metadata Update from @bcotton:
- Issue close_status updated to: approved
- Issue status updated to: Closed (was: Open)

3 years ago

Log in to comment on this ticket.

Metadata