[FOSDEM] It's time for a Code of Conduct

[Mario Torre]

2015-10-30 0:59 GMT+01:00 Ludovic Brenta <ludovic at ludovic-brenta.org>:
> FWIW, I oppose the notion of a code of conduct specific to FOSDEM or any
> conference.  There already exists a code of conduct that applies
> everywhere, every day and at any time and not just during conferences:
> it's called "the law".  A code of conduct at FOSDEM implies that it's
> okay to harass & stalk outside of the conference.  It's not.  Period.

Well, saying "we need more cheeks" is not exactly breaking the law,
it's just very unrespectful.

The line is subtle, but it's not always crossed, however it causes a
situation of stress that has been raised to our attention and never
been addressed.

I have contrasting feelings here, btw, I do agree that it's either a
legal problem or not, and I don't think we need more Laws.

There are some Countries that have special Laws like aggravating a
murder if it's against a woman, I don't think this make sense, a
murder is a murder, it is already the most ferocious of crimes, how
can that be aggravated by analysing the social extraction, sex or
sexual orientation of the victim?

The line is again similarly subtle, one thing is is to make "jokes"
about gay or women in general (rude and unrespectful again, and
unwanted), and another target a specific person (harassment).

On the other end, what's the point of FOSDEM? Yes, we are educators,
and it's not about hardware and software, we claim we are building
Communities, so why shouldn't we build better ones in the first place?

Btw, this is not about women and gay, this is a very general problem,
see for example what happened with Lennart Poettering [1].

Respecting the Law is not optional, but teaching a Community the
values that the Law tries to follow, is a social task.

So I give a +1 to the idea of a Code of Conduct, even if I know it is
only a minority of people who are the trouble makers, I want to be
sure they understand they are not welcomed.

Cheers,
Mario

[1] https://plus.google.com/app/basic/stream/z13rdjryqyn1xlt3522sxpugoz3gujbhh04
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