Changes to the Code of Conduct

[Andrew Gerrand]

Hi golang-nuts,

This morning we made a change to the Code of Conduct. This change removes the punitive language and anonymous reporting mechanism from the Code of Conduct document. The changes will go live with the imminent release of Go 1.8.

The commit message explains the change:

More than a year has passed since the Go Code of Conduct was introduced.  

In that time, there have been a small number (<30) of reports to the Working

Group. Some reports we handled well, with positive outcomes for all involved.

A few reports we handled badly, resulting in hurt feelings and a bad experience

for all involved.

On reflection, the reports that had positive outcomes were ones where the

Working Group took the role of advisor/facilitator, listening to complaints and

providing suggestions and advice to the parties involved.

The reports that had negative outcomes were ones where the subject of the

report felt threatened by the Working Group and Code of Conduct.

After some discussion among the Working Group, we saw that we are most

effective as facilitators, rather than disciplinarians. The various Go spaces

already have moderators; this change to the CoC acknowledges their authority

and places the group in a purely advisory role. If an incident is reported to

the group we may provide information to or make a suggestion the moderators,

but the Working Group need not (and should not) have any authority to take

disciplinary action.

In short, we want it to be clear that the Working Group are here to help

resolve conflict, period.

The second change made here is the removal of the anonymous reporting

mechanism. To date, the quality of anonymous reports has been low, and with no

way to reach out to the reporter for more information there is often very

little we can do in response. Removing this one-way reporting mechanism

strengthens the message that the Working Group are here to facilitate a

constructive dialogue.

End commit message.

Earlier this month we made a separate change to remove Jason Buberel and Dave Cheney from the working group (at their request). We intend to replace them, but we haven't decided how best to do that. (If you have suggestions, get in touch.)

Cheers,

Andrew