[Osmf-talk] Commitment to open communication channels

[Kathleen Lu]

I believe it is as safe as any other channel and abuse is very rare.
> Try to find 2 examples from this year of non acceptable communication, and
> if you cannot, let’s reflect how “toxic” this list really is. From my
> perception, people spreading the myth of toxicity on OpenStreetMap mailing
> lists are behaving more toxically than all the communications I have seen
> on various OpenStreetMap mailing lists in 12 years. Disclaimer: I am not on
> talk-us, maybe this list is an exception I am not aware of.
> I do recall two events of unpleasant communication, in both cases I
> believe that personal discourses from
> the real life had moved to the lists (one was on the diversity list, the
> other was a flame against you before the elections I think 2 years ago).
>
>
Martin, don't you think it would only increase the toxicity on this list
for people to start calling out by name other people that they think are
toxic or abusive? And if people already don't feel safe on this list, why
in the world would they feel safe publicly calling out others' behaviors? I
am not saying this is your intent, but your challenge could serve as a
self-fulfilling prophecy: Tell people that they will not be believed, and
they will be unlikely to speak up, and then you'll have your "proof" that
there is no toxicity.
I will say that at least three people (a mix of genders) have personally
told me that they do not participate in/read the talk listserv because of
the culture, and this is not exactly something that comes up in every
conversation I have about OSM.
We can all have different opinions on what qualifies as "toxic", but I
think that I would prefer "welcoming" to "not that toxic that often," which
is what it sounds like you are describing as the standard for "any other
channel." I think that is too low of a bar and that OSM should aim for
better.

-Kathleen
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