[Osmf-talk] Proposal - OSMF Should **NOT** Adopt a Code of Conduct

Emily Eros emily.eros at gmail.com
Sun Dec 3 22:06:10 UTC 2017


Hi all,

As someone who generally doesn't participate in these mailing lists, I very
much disagree with this statement:
"Some people feel frightened to participate in mailing lists? Well, I think
it's very exaggerated and makes me smile in general."

I can wholeheartedly say that YES, this is a space that I don't feel
comfortable participating in. It's great to see people passionate about
OSM, but this space feels fraught with hostility and personal tensions -
some of which goes years back. It's easy to feel like saying something is
going to leave me feeling attacked. For me, I don't see an obvious way to
contribute and try to make this better, so YES, it is very tempting to just
disengage. I know I'm not alone in that, so I'd really encourage you to
take it seriously when people say that they don't feel comfortable
contributing to the mailing lists.

To me, it seems like all the loudest voices are the ones having this
conversation. As someone who participates less, I can say that the
existence of a CoC (carefully drafted, with community input and caution
about how to design this well) is something that would make me feel more
comfortable here.

"In that context, and without any intention to offend anyone, I'd give more
value in this matter to the opinion of people who are more likely to be the
victims of harassment and abusive behavior, compared to the opinion of
white males who argue out of the safety of their privileged status."

+1 to that, and thanks to Nikos for pointing it out.

My two cents.
Emily




On Sun, Dec 3, 2017 at 11:12 AM, Nikos Roussos <comzeradd at fsfe.org> wrote:

> > I have more interesting things to do in life,
> > like mapping for example.
>
> So you only do one interesting thing at a time? Please let's avoid
> undervaluing what other people may find interesting.
>
> > Any code of conduct will make people more or less autocensure. I can't
> > see any interest of having that thing, unless for control.
>
> If a CoC make people to auto-censor from abusive behavior I'd say it's
> worth it.
>
>
> This is a nice read on the value of a CoC in a community:
> http://incisive.nu/2014/codes-of-conduct/
>
> For those who don't have the time to read it all a very good argument is
> that "you aren’t creating a code of conduct only - or even primarily - for
> the people who are likely to break it. You’re creating it to make it clear
> to anyone who has been harmed or harassed, online or off, that your space
> is safe for them."
>
> In that context, and without any intention to offend anyone, I'd give more
> value in this matter to the opinion of people who are more likely to be the
> victims of harassment and abusive behavior, compared to the opinion of
> white males who argue out of the safety of their privileged status.
>
> _______________________________________________
> osmf-talk mailing list
> osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org
> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk
>
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