[openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website] Let's adopt the Contributor Covenant code of conduct (#1299)

Bryan Housel notifications at github.com
Mon Sep 26 15:38:20 UTC 2016


http://contributor-covenant.org/

This is a very reasonable code of conduct that has been adopted by over 10,000 open source projects.  I would be very pleased to see OpenStreetMap added to the [list of well known projects](http://contributor-covenant.org/adopters/) that have adopted it. 

Here's why I think this is a good idea:
1. Everybody should feel comfortable contributing to OpenStreetMap.
2. Our maintainers are doing a great job, but can always use more help.  Having a larger community of open source contributors would take some of the burden off the team who is already overtaxed maintaining core infrastructure like our servers, the rails site, cgimap, etc.
3. Even if an explicit code of conduct encourages one or two more people to help out that otherwise would not - this is a clear win.

---

Also want to share my experience with adding a [Code of Conduct to iD](https://github.com/openstreetmap/iD/blob/master/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).  The one that I use is adopted from Contributor Covenant but uses simpler language and goes a little further in some ways (e.g. mentioning plagiarism on the unacceptable list).

I'm going to be honest, I also used to think that these codes of conduct were more for show than anything.  But adopting the language forced me to think more about my own conduct as a maintainer (which has not been perfect), and it helps me to strive to be better at doing my job.  

Put another way:  _The code of conduct is less for the community, and more for the leadership team._  

This was surprising to me.  I originally thought of it as a list of things "you must not do", and ended up thinking of it a list of things "I must do".  I now add this language to all projects that I maintain, and I feel better having it there.

I now think of adopting a CoC like adding automated unit tests to a project.  As we know, adding tests won't cover all cases or find all bugs, but it will expose things in the code that are broken.  And having comprehensive tests in place saves me time as a maintainer.  Similarly, a code of conduct helps to spell out the things that I as a maintainer should do to maintain a welcoming environment for everyone.  Unit tests help me keep the code healthy, the CoC helps me keep the community healthy.






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