[Osmf-talk] Open letter from the Moderation Team

[Allan Mustard]

The Moderation Team[1] was distressed by the tone and content of several 
messages posted to the OSMF-talk list during the month of October. After 
admonishing privately two long-standing OSMF members for violating the 
Etiquette Guidelines[2], the Moderation Team was surprised to see a 
dispute erupt that quickly spun out of control and degenerated into 
bickering and exchanges of ad hominem attacks. Complaints were 
registered with us and additionally, several people almost 
simultaneously unsubscribed from osmf-talk.

The Moderation Team followed up with the unsubscribers and confirmed 
their motives. Not all left the list and quit the OSM Foundation because 
of the tone of the communications that disgusted them, but at least four 
did. Among their comments were

"...I unsubscribed because I find the tone of discussions to be 
systematically unpleasant and aggressive."

"...We need transparency yes, but at the same time we don't need to 
attack each other. I was personally getting annoyed with the discussion 
tones. We need solutions not pin pointing each other. We need team work 
not manipulators or people looking to get a spotlight each time."

"...I just find that every time there is a board meeting announced (I 
believe that is the trigger) there is a flurry of posts that typically 
get into the weeds all arguing about this and that. To me it is just too 
tiresome. It seems mostly anti collaborative -- not appearing to strive 
together to create a better world, but rather complaining about actions 
or inactions of various "leaders" of the organization."

"...I was maybe a bit irritated with the internal politics."

The Etiquette Guidelines were established to promote broader 
participation in the work of the OSM project. Failure to adhere to the 
Guidelines drives people away, which harms the project. It's really that 
simple. The Moderation Team calls on all OSMF members to observe the 
Guidelines, and if you have any doubts about whether something you are 
posting in the heat of an emotional response might violate them, we 
suggest that you stop, put it aside for an hour, and come back after 
taking time to contemplate whether your post will help or hurt the project.

For the Moderation Team,
Allan Mustard

[1] 
https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Moderation_team_for_talk_and_osmf-talk_mailing_lists
[2] https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Etiquette/Etiquette_Guidelines
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