Community Code of Conduct

Be kind, nice and respectful

In the genular community, participants from all over the world come together to create Free Software for a free internet. This is made possible by the support, hard work and enthusiasm of thousands of people, including those who create and use genular software.

This document offers some guidance to ensure genular participants can cooperate effectively in a positive and inspiring atmosphere, and to explain how together we can strengthen and support each other.
This Code of Conduct is shared by all contributors and users who engage with the genular team and its community services.

Overview

This Code of Conduct presents a summary of the shared values and “common sense” thinking in our community.

Our community is made up of several groups of individuals and organizations which can roughly be divided into two groups:
Contributors, or those who add value to the project through improving genular software and its services
Users, or those who add value to the project through their support as consumers of genular software

Be considerate

Be respectful

Be collaborative

Support others in the community

Our community is made strong by mutual respect, collaboration and pragmatic, responsible behavior. Sometimes there are situations where this has to be defended and other community members need help.
If you witness others being attacked, think first about how you can offer them personal support. If you feel that the situation is beyond your ability to help individually, go privately to the victim and ask if some form of official intervention is needed. Similarly you should support anyone who appears to be in danger of burning out, either through work-related stress or personal problems.

When problems do arise, consider respectfully reminding those involved of our shared Code of Conduct as a first action. Leaders are defined by their actions, and can help set a good example by working to resolve issues in the spirit of this Code of Conduct before they escalate.

Be pragmatic

genular is a pragmatic community. We value tangible results over having the last word in a discussion. We defend our core values like freedom and respectful collaboration, but we don’t let arguments about minor issues get in the way of achieving more important results. We are open to suggestions and welcome solutions regardless of their origin. When in doubt support a solution which helps getting things done over one which has theoretical merits, but isn’t being worked on. Use the tools and methods which help getting the job done. Let decisions be taken by those who do the work.

Get support from others

Disagreements, both political and technical, happen all the time. Our community is no exception to the rule. The goal is not to avoid disagreements or differing views but to resolve them constructively. You should turn to the community to seek advice and to resolve disagreements and where possible consult the team most directly involved.
Think deeply before turning a disagreement into a public dispute. If necessary request mediation, trying to resolve differences in a less highly-emotional medium. If you do feel that you or your work is being attacked, take your time to breathe through before writing heated replies. Consider a 24 hour moratorium if emotional language is being used – a cooling off period is sometimes all that is needed. If you really want to go a different way, then we encourage you to publish your ideas and your work, so that it can be tried and tested.

This Code of Conduct reflects the agreed standards of behavior for members of the genular community, in any forum, mailing list, wiki, web site, IRC channel, public meeting or private correspondence within the context of the genular team and its services. The community acts according to the standards written down in this Code of Conduct and will defend these standards for the benefit of the community. Leaders of any group, such as moderators of mailing lists, IRC channels, forums, etc., will exercise the right to suspend access to any person who persistently breaks our shared Code of Conduct.