Mailinglist Archive: opensuse-project (479 mails)

[Jim Henderson <hendersj@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 09:37:29 +0100, Per Jessen wrote:

> are the guiding principles really good/clear enough to form the base of
> someone being expelled?   To me, they're guidance only and nowhere near
> clear enough to form the base of any kind of punitive action.

Some perhaps moreso than others.

For example, the statement:

"We value respect for other persons and their contributions, for other 
opinions and beliefs. We listen to arguments and address problems in a 
constructive and open way. We believe that a diverse community based on 
mutual respect is the base for a creative and productive environment 
enabling the project to be truly successful. We don't tolerate social 
discrimination and aim at creating an environment where people feel 
accepted and safe from offense."

Pretty clearly outlines a code of conduct to me.  If I agree to the 
guiding principles, and then I start disparaging someone's contributions, 
opinions, or beliefs, then it would be very hypocritical of me to say I 
agree with the guiding principles.

I think most of the principles (particularly under "we value") could be 
similarly viewed.

Now if someone's agreed to those principles and then shows a complete 
lack of respect for other persons and their contributions, opinions, and/
or beliefs, it seems to me that that person isn't really a good fit into 
the membership, and they could (a) give up their membership voluntarily, 
or (b) if it becomes excessive, have it revoked.

After all, if we say these are the things we value, but we don't do 
something about someone who *repeatedly* and egregiously violates those 
things we value, what does it say to the world if we just ignore it?

It says that we don't really value it.

If we place a value on something, and we want that something to mean 
something, we have to do something when someone consistently shows that 
even though they've agreed to it that they don't really mean it.

I'm not suggesting that someone sit and watch for individual "violations" 
- but if there's a trend in a member's behaviour that's inconsistent with 
the spirit of the guiding principles, then we have to at least ask 
ourselves if that person really belongs here - and at most, ask the 
person to leave - which would be the board's responsibility to do, as 
elected representatives of the membership who, under the governance 
section of the principles, are charged with conflict resolution and 
making decisions.

Bottom line:  Actions speak louder than words.  If we have a set of 
principles that we say we value, but we do nothing when someone 
repeatedly violates those principles, then what we're telling the world 
is that we really don't value those things after all.

Jim

-- 
 Jim Henderson
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