Diversity statement

[Michael C. Harris]

There seem to have been an unusually large number of crappy things
that have happened lately in relation to women in several different
open source communities. Habari has a strong community foundation, and
I think we've done pretty well welcoming people from all sorts of
people from all sorts of backgrounds. However, we don't actually spell
out anything to do with community or diversity or a code of conduct
(at least that I can find). So I propose we develop (or borrow) and
adopt something.

I've made a start. I've deliberately kept it short. Feedback appreciated.

http://wiki.habariproject.org/en/Community_and_Diversity

--
Michael C. Harris, School of CS&IT, RMIT University
http://twofishcreative.com/michael/blog
IRC: michaeltwofish #habari

[Ali B.]

As far as I know, we have thankfully never encountered any gender-based discrimination and/or trolling in our community thusfar.
I do recall that I had to shut off a conversation of a race-related nature by one of the past community members though.

I think the document should include a statement of how serious we take such attacks and that intolerant actions will be taken should any of these type of conducts were made.

Oh, and ponies? No we don't! ;)

--
Ali
http://awhitebox.com

[Rich Bowen]

On Oct 24, 2009, at 22:59 , Michael C. Harris wrote:

>
> There seem to have been an unusually large number of crappy things
> that have happened lately in relation to women in several different
> open source communities. Habari has a strong community foundation, and
> I think we've done pretty well welcoming people from all sorts of
> people from all sorts of backgrounds. However, we don't actually spell
> out anything to do with community or diversity or a code of conduct
> (at least that I can find). So I propose we develop (or borrow) and
> adopt something.
>
> I've made a start. I've deliberately kept it short. Feedback
> appreciated.
>
> http://wiki.habariproject.org/en/Community_and_Diversity

An enormous +1 to this statement.

And short is good. It might be good to have an accompanying page that
discusses some of the implications, as Ali said, such as how we will
find you and burn your house down if you refuse to abide by the
statement, but I think that keeping the core statement short is a very
good thing.

--
Rich Bowen
rbo...@rcbowen.com

[Realpolitik]

I like that the community members should always treat others with
respect. The wording removes all limitations on where, when, and who
they should treat with respect, which means if we find a member of the
community is posting hate messages elsewhere on the internet he is in
violation of the diversity policy.

I would go with some rewording ("Habari community" is singular, avoid
using "you" and "we," stuff like that). I've proposed a new version
that uses the same text with some minor changes. Feel free to pick and
choose which, if any, changes you adopt.

"""
The Habari project is built on the premise that community is more
important than code. The Habari community is committed to creating a
welcoming environment that embraces people of any ability, gender,
race, ethnicity, religious belief, nationality, and sexual
orientation. Ponies are welcome too.
Members of the community should always treat others with respect,
regardless of their background or involvement with the project.
"""

+1

On Oct 24, 10:59 pm, "Michael C. Harris" <michael.twof...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Michael C. Harris]

Some changes have been made based on comments on the discussion page[1]. If
there are no more comments, I'll call for a vote sometime next week.

2009/10/30 Rich Bowen <rbo...@rcbowen.com>:

>
> And short is good. It might be good to have an accompanying page that
> discusses some of the implications, as Ali said, such as how we will
> find you and burn your house down if you refuse to abide by the
> statement, but I think that keeping the core statement short is a very
> good thing.

Short was definitely an important goal. I don't think there's much use having a
long and waffling statement no one will take in.

2009/10/30 Realpolitik <cav...@gmail.com>:

>
> I would go with some rewording ("Habari community" is singular, avoid
> using "you" and "we," stuff like that). I've proposed a new version
> that uses the same text with some minor changes. Feel free to pick and
> choose which, if any, changes you adopt.

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't think this should be a cold statement, I
wanted to try to speak directly to the person reading it, so it was a
deliberate choice. Also, have a look at the Wiki Style Guide[2]. We
specifically say that second person plural should be used when referring to the
Habari Community.

[1] http://wiki.habariproject.org/en/Talk:Community_and_Diversity
[2] http://wiki.habariproject.org/en/Wiki_Style_Guide



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