TL;DR I liked the idea of "No Code of Conduct", but I just wanted to explain the "behave like sane adults" part a bit more. So I made my own version - the SCoC.
Inspired by:
Q: What the heck is this?
A: The free and open-source (FOSS) community has long had an issue with behavior. After all, what behavior is acceptable, and what isn't, when you don't have rules that state it? Or at least, lots of people think that way.
But I believe that any sensible person should be capable of knowing what is acceptable, and what isn't. That's the idea behind the Sensible Code of Conduct (SCoC). To make rules that are basic enough that they won't be argued and debated over.
Q: If the No Code of Conduct exists, why modify it? It seems good enough to me already.
A: I fully agree with the No Code of Conduct. However, not everyone might be clear with the terms "we are all adults. capable of having adult discussions." That's why I've elaborated that clause into a more extensive rule of conduct.
Q: But surely people aren't that sensible! What happens if someone gets offended by someone else?
A: In most cases, people don't usually want to intentionally hurt others. Someone having a bad day might just make a comment that others may deem offensive, and not be aware of the comment's offensiveness to the other person. Dealing with this is simple: the offended person should say to the commentor "hey, I was offended by something you said, can we talk this out in private?" Once those two people can engage in a private conversation, the issue is resolved quickly.
However, if the individual making the offensive comment makes numerous attempts to offend others, and does not respond to requests to disengage and talk in private, this is considered harrassment. In this case, that individual is clearly toxic to the community, and should not be allowed participate in further community discussions for the time being. If the individual sends a message to the community leaders to apologize for their actions, then they may rejoin the community. However, as long as they do not apologize, they will not be allowed to rejoin.
Again, I believe that most people are already sensible enough to know this. This is also already in the sensible code of conduct, albeit in a more condensed form.
Q: Great! How do I add this to my project?
Simply copy CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md into the root directory of your project. You may modify it to your needs. No attribution required.
We are all contributors and part of a larger community. We welcome you in as a contributor, community member, and a well-meaning, conscientious individual.
It is your responsibility to act in good faith. You should know what that means. If not - stick to being polite, and we'll be happy with it.
Our community isn't perfect. But please accept that. We all have bad days and disagreements. We'll certainly have differing opinions and cultures. As much as we try to be fair, please don't expect others to give you extra privileges for whatever reason. A community seeks to promote the interests of all, not the interests of one individual only.
We try to lead by example, and choose leaders by merit. We won't bring up or ask you for personal matters - such as political views, sexual views, religious views, etc. We make decisions together - and we make decisions that are best for the community.
We love discussion! We won't ever silence you if you have a constructive opinion to share. And if you chose to question someone or something, please do so. But remember to discuss or debate the idea, not the person. Please take part in keeping discussions polite and civil - we are all decent human beings, so everyone should know how to.
Harassment as defined by law will not be allowed. Neither do we allow unconstructive, disruptive communication. Repeated attempts to go after an individual, after the individual has stated their desire for disengagement, will earn you a one-way ticket out of the community.
Rather than list everything that isn't allowed, we think you are discerning enough to know what you can and can't do here. Communities only require codes of conduct when bad things happen. Please don't make bad things happen. If you do something unacceptable, the community will not tolerate you.
Stick to these ground rules as much as possible:
-
Behave in a community-respecting manner.
-
Treat others as you like to be treated.
-
Make contributions to better the community.
-
No other rules!