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Linux Community To Adopt New Code of Conduct (kernel.org) 780

Following Linus Torvalds' public apology for his behavior over the years, the Linux Community said it will be adopting a new "Code of Conduct", which pledges to make "participation in our project and our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation."
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Linux Community To Adopt New Code of Conduct

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @10:44AM (#57334026)

    Just imagine how quickly kernel technology will advance now that the mailing list is a designated safe space for special snowflakes.

    • by CoolVibe ( 11466 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @10:47AM (#57334044) Journal
      Patch rejected because the use of pointers is offensive. Pointing is rude, you know?
      • by Thud457 ( 234763 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:01AM (#57334226) Homepage Journal

        BULLSHIT. [lkml.org]
        -- Linus Torvalds, LKML, 21/1/2018

        COMPLETE AND UTTER GARBAGE. [lkml.org]
        -- Linus Torvalds, LKML, 21/1/2018

        WHAT THE F*CK IS GOING ON? [lkml.org]
        -- Linus Torvalds, LKML, 21/1/2018

        • by wed128 ( 722152 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:12AM (#57334356)

          Yeah, but he's right.

        • by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:16AM (#57334394) Journal
          In context, those posts are unusually tame and restrained. If you trust Linus, the Intel guy lied about what the patches were doing (or the Intel guy didn't understand what they were doing and someone had lied to him, one of those two).
        • Unfortunately, this kind of fury is sometimes needed to keep developers in line in the FOSS world. But only when the project is something as important as the Linux kernel.
          Linus has always had a handle on his fiery pasdion. Theo de Raadt has not and always let his ego get in the way.

          Do not apologize, Linus. Without your might, Linux will go the way of Windows 8 within a few short years.
        • by iMadeGhostzilla ( 1851560 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @12:29PM (#57335162)

          And this is why he's right:

          "So somebody isn't telling the truth here. Somebody is pushing complete garbage for unclear reasons. Sorry for having to point that out."

          He never trashes the human being, only the stupid thing they did, and people do stupid things and need feedback and correction. But the SJW culture has people focusing on their feelings and their fragile egos instead of what is being built.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      A Conduct Code does not means you had to accept source code from everybody just to don't hurt people feelings. I think it is to don't treat people bad when they do mistakes and don't enjoy being a dick making fun or labeling people because of their errors. I know this is slashdot and it is almost a rule to be a dick on replies, but check more about the wheaton's law: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes... [knowyourmeme.com]
    • Probably faster, because there will be a lot less trolling and more focus on the technical issue at hand vs Alpha Geek Chest Thumping.

  • by sinij ( 911942 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @10:47AM (#57334054)
    Our Pledge
    ===========

    In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming environment, we as
    contributors and maintainers pledge to making participation in our project and
    our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body
    size, disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and
    expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality,
    personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

    Our Standards
    =============

    Examples of behavior that contributes to creating a positive environment
    include:

    * Using welcoming and inclusive language
    * Being respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences
    * Gracefully accepting constructive criticism
    * Focusing on what is best for the community
    * Showing empathy towards other community members


    Examples of unacceptable behavior by participants include:

    * The use of sexualized language or imagery and unwelcome sexual attention or
    advances
    * Trolling, insulting/derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
    * Public or private harassment
    * Publishing others’ private information, such as a physical or electronic
    address, without explicit permission
    * Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a
    professional setting


    Our Responsibilities
    ====================

    Maintainers are responsible for clarifying the standards of acceptable behavior
    and are expected to take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to
    any instances of unacceptable behavior.

    Maintainers have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject
    comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are
    not aligned to this Code of Conduct, or to ban temporarily or permanently any
    contributor for other behaviors that they deem inappropriate, threatening,
    offensive, or harmful.

    Scope
    =====

    This Code of Conduct applies both within project spaces and in public spaces
    when an individual is representing the project or its community. Examples of
    representing a project or community include using an official project e-mail
    address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed
    representative at an online or offline event. Representation of a project may be
    further defined and clarified by project maintainers.

    Enforcement
    ===========

    Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be
    reported by contacting the Technical Advisory Board (TAB) at
    . All complaints will be reviewed and
    investigated and will result in a response that is deemed necessary and
    appropriate to the circumstances. The TAB is obligated to maintain
    confidentiality with regard to the reporter of an incident. Further details of
    specific enforcement policies may be posted separately.

    Maintainers who do not follow or enforce the Code of Conduct in good faith may
    face temporary or permanent repercussions as determined by other members of the
    project’s leadership.
    • by smallfries ( 601545 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @10:53AM (#57334104) Homepage

      No more telling people they can deep-throat Microsoft if they want then. No wonder Linus needed to go and “find himself”.

    • by sinij ( 911942 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @10:55AM (#57334134)

      This Code of Conduct applies both within project spaces and in public spaces when an individual is representing the project or its community. Examples of representing a project or community include using an official project e-mail address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event.

      Looks good. So if you are not acting on behalf of the project, use official project email for communication, or were officially appointed representative, then your conduct has no relationship with this. Extreme example - Nazi would still be able to contribute as long as Nazi-related speech is kept out of commits, discussions, mailing list, and group events.

      Representation of a project may be further defined and clarified by project maintainers.

      Ugh, what? Why bother defining the above applicability rules and then inserting this gigantic "scope is what project maintainers decide the scope is"? This seems like a huge flaw that has to be fixed.

      • Better not make a joke about dongles

      • by atriusofbricia ( 686672 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @12:16PM (#57335058) Journal

        This Code of Conduct applies both within project spaces and in public spaces
        when an individual is representing the project or its community. Examples of
        representing a project or community include using an official project e-mail
        address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed
        representative at an online or offline event.

        Looks good. So if you are not acting on behalf of the project, use official project email for communication, or were officially appointed representative, then your conduct has no relationship with this. Extreme example - Nazi would still be able to contribute as long as Nazi-related speech is kept out of commits, discussions, mailing list, and group events.

        Representation of a project may be further defined and clarified by project maintainers.

        Ugh, what? Why bother defining the above applicability rules and then inserting this gigantic "scope is what project maintainers decide the scope is"? This seems like a huge flaw that has to be fixed.

        You've confused a feature with a bug. That isn't a flaw. That's entirely by design. It gives the impression of being defined, but ultimately allows it to be fudged however the political winds are blowing. Neat, no?

    • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @10:58AM (#57334172)

      One thing is certain - codes of conduct exist to take projects away from maintainers. That's their purpose. They've been forced onto one project after another - they are the open source/free software version of entryism. Woolly wording... fuck all to do with actual technology... vague enough to be used to crucify men based on anonymous, worthless allegations.

      Linus will end up regretting this. He'll be forced off the project by some bullshit made-up claim.

      It's how this always happens. Mark my words.

    • by Etcetera ( 14711 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @10:59AM (#57334182) Homepage

      Err, you left out the bottom part: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/8a104f8b5867#diff-310ab816e1e15913bbe69e164b689ac9R77 [github.com]

      Attribution
      ===========

      This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 1.4,
      available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/1/4/code-of-conduct.html [contributor-covenant.org]

    • by bsDaemon ( 87307 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:12AM (#57334344)

      Meanwhile, what was removed:

      -The Linux kernel development effort is a very personal process compared
      -to "traditional" ways of developing software. Your code and ideas
      -behind it will be carefully reviewed, often resulting in critique and
      -criticism. The review will almost always require improvements to the
      -code before it can be included in the kernel. Know that this happens
      -because everyone involved wants to see the best possible solution for
      -the overall success of Linux. This development process has been proven
      -to create the most robust operating system kernel ever, and we do not
      -want to do anything to cause the quality of submission and eventual
      -result to ever decrease.
      -
      -If however, anyone feels personally abused, threatened, or otherwise
      -uncomfortable due to this process, that is not acceptable. If so,
      -please contact the Linux Foundation's Technical Advisory Board at
      -, or the individual members, and they
      -will work to resolve the issue to the best of their ability.

      So, the language that states "best possible solution" has been replaced language related to the "good of the community." Personally, I don't interact with Linux as a community (if my name isn't enough of a tip-off). I consume it as a product, and I want the best product I can get in order to go do something else, because work. If they think they can still get the best product while airing all this drama in public and trying to build sticks to hit each other with, whatever. Good on them. What I fear will happen is more "my ignorance is just as valid as your expertise, and if you don't think so i'm going to beat you with the CoC until you stop hurting my feelings." That's not going to result in a better product.

      But, not my community, not my responsibility. But now that most of the world runs on this stack, I just want to see a consistently high level of quality. Lack of quality makes it my problem, regardless of whether or not it is my responsibility.

    • by johannesg ( 664142 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @12:43PM (#57335290)

      Of the 'traditional freedoms', I find one missing: the right to a political opinion. But I think we all know where this is going to end: it will be open season on those who voted Trump, for example.

  • Exceptions (Score:5, Funny)

    by c ( 8461 ) <beauregardcp@gmail.com> on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @10:51AM (#57334096)

    I assume "works for Intel" is still fair game, right?

  • by Etcetera ( 14711 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @10:54AM (#57334116) Homepage

    I really, really, really wish these had been handled non-concurrently. It's virtually impossible not to analyze or comment on the two events together, which leads to some unsettling connotations for some.

    While I think Linus taking a breather to maybe not be as much of a dick while still demanding high quality code is an admirable moment of self-reflection, the roots of this Code of Conduct are quite unsettling.

    One really can't discuss the wording of the CoC [github.com] without discussing the Contributor Covenant [contributor-covenant.org] and the larger philosophical goals of the Post-Meritocracy manifesto [postmeritocracy.org].

    From the CC:

    A Code of Conduct for Open Source Projects
    Open Source has always been a foundation of the Internet, and with the advent of social open source networks this is more true than ever. But free, libre, and open source projects suffer from a startling lack of diversity, with dramatically low representation by women, people of color, and other marginalized populations.

    Part of this problem lies with the very structure of some projects: the use of insensitive language, thoughtless use of pronouns, assumptions of gender, and even sexualized or culturally insensitive names.

    Marginalized people also suffer some of the unintended consequences of dogmatic insistence on meritocratic principles of governance. Studies have shown that organizational cultures that value meritocracy often result in greater inequality.

    From the PMM:

    Meritocracy is a founding principle of the open source movement, and the ideal of meritocracy is perpetuated throughout our field in the way people are recruited, hired, retained, promoted, and valued.

    But meritocracy has consistently shown itself to mainly benefit those with privilege, to the exclusion of underrepresented people in technology. The idea of merit is in fact never clearly defined; rather, it seems to be a form of recognition, an acknowledgement that “this person is valuable insofar as they are like me.”

    (If you are not familiar with criticisms of meritocracy, please refer to the resources on this page.)

    It is time that we as an industry abandon the notion that merit is something that can be measured, can be pursued on equal terms by every individual, and can ever be distributed fairly.

    These are explicitly political documents... and they should be addressed as such. I don't think anyone has a problem with "don't be a jerk, and don't make it personal" in an open source project. Arguably, Linus has stepped over the line on occasion. The adoption of this document goes far beyond rectifying a mere lack of teeth in telling people to "Be excellent to each other [github.com]"

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      No shit. This is the beginning of the end for Linus and quite possibly Linux in its current hugely successful form. It won't happen tomorrow, but the sort of social justice lunatics wanting to take over the project are celebrating. See the nodejs fiasco for an example. He had to ensure he was never alone with a woman because of their machinations and using women to get alone with him before making allegations... and this is the next stage.

      Codes of conduct exist to take projects away from maintainers. That's

    • by sinij ( 911942 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:07AM (#57334280)

      One really can't discuss the wording of the CoC [github.com] without discussing the Contributor Covenant [contributor-covenant.org] and the larger philosophical goals of the Post-Meritocracy manifesto [postmeritocracy.org]

      I think you can. Nothing in CoC states that you must also adopt the manifesto. Sure, this CoC was produced by dubious people with very questionable intentions. Likewise, GPL license is based on Stallman's ideas. This doesn't mean that we have to adopt all of the Stallman's extreme views about software in their entirety. I am still hopeful that sanity will prevail and it won't go past CoC. However, I do understand and share your concerns.

      • by atriusofbricia ( 686672 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @12:30PM (#57335166) Journal

        One really can't discuss the wording of the CoC [github.com] without discussing the Contributor Covenant [contributor-covenant.org] and the larger philosophical goals of the Post-Meritocracy manifesto [postmeritocracy.org]

        I think you can. Nothing in CoC states that you must also adopt the manifesto. Sure, this CoC was produced by dubious people with very questionable intentions. Likewise, GPL license is based on Stallman's ideas. This doesn't mean that we have to adopt all of the Stallman's extreme views about software in their entirety. I am still hopeful that sanity will prevail and it won't go past CoC. However, I do understand and share your concerns.

        You're correct, the CoC doesn't absolutely require adopting the PMM. However, it would be very hard to ignore the fact that both were written by the same person with the same overall agenda in mind and what the previous person said is 100% correct, this is a political agenda and has nothing to do with technology and only relates to being respectful to people insofar as the ways in which that advances the political agenda in question.

        The previous "code" Linux had was fine. If a change was needed, an amendment of "Also, don't be a dick" would have worked. However, they have ripped out a code which specifically called for quality and good engineering above all and replaced it with one written by someone who is, by their own words a "Notorious Social Justice Warrior". I don't know the person, I could be misinterpreting their words and maybe it is tongue-in-cheek. I tend to doubt it.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      You what's going to happen next, quotas on the percentage of women and minorities contributing to projects. These people are cancer and it's about time they stopped.

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      To be clear though the Code of Conduct doesn't say any of that, or even hint at it. And the text from the Contributor Covenant that you quoted isn't actually from the Covenant itself, it's from the preamble on the web page that introduces it.

      So I think your "context" here is just fear-mongering. Can you point to anything you find problematic in the actual Code of Conduct?

      • by Etcetera ( 14711 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:49AM (#57334770) Homepage

        To be clear though the Code of Conduct doesn't say any of that, or even hint at it. And the text from the Contributor Covenant that you quoted isn't actually from the Covenant itself, it's from the preamble on the web page that introduces it.

        So I think your "context" here is just fear-mongering. Can you point to anything you find problematic in the actual Code of Conduct?

        I don't see how the explicit preamble on the main page is to be dissociated from the code itself. That's like saying that the FSF's philosophy is distinct from the GPL. By its nature, a debate about which copyright license to use (say, GPL vs BSD vs MIT) touches on the philosophical underpinnings of the licenses themselves, not solely on the text, nor solely on the utilitarian effect of the license on project use.

        To answer your question, though, yes. The previous code referred to humans individually and did not prioritize, label, or categorize the use of various "classes" of persons. The new conduct policy is vague as to conduct, guarantees corrective action without indicating guidelines on what that is, describes a "professional environment", which (despite individuals being employed at times) implies a regulatory framework on the project as a whole, explicitly brings in public behavior outside the context of the project as subject to the jurisdiction of this, and implies there are additional rules to come.

        Off-hand, I'd say the Code of Conduct from near the end of the movie Pleasantville was less oppressive.

  • by martiniturbide ( 1203660 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @10:55AM (#57334138) Homepage Journal
    It was about time they apply wheaton's law. "Don't be a Dick !" https://dontbeadickday.com/ [dontbeadickday.com]
  • this is madness.. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:00AM (#57334192)

    Is everybody insane?!

    • by CoolVibe ( 11466 )
      Not all of us, bub. I'll be somewhere grabbing popcorn and switching systems to OpenBSD or something. The snowflakes haven't infected that project yet.
  • by IGnatius T Foobar ( 4328 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:01AM (#57334224) Homepage Journal
    This is the end of Linux as we know it. The "Code of Conduct" is teeming with words and phrases that indicate the project is now going to be policed by Social Justice Warriors who will micro-manage everything. It means that the Linux kernel is no longer a meritocracy.

    The only "code of conduct" ought to be: "my code doesn't care about your feelings". You can't develop good code in a Safe Space.
    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      What words specifically are you worried about?

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        The lack of any discussing how good the contributed code should be.

      • by religionofpeas ( 4511805 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:32AM (#57334598)

        For example: "fostering an open and welcoming environment", plus all notes relating to that.

        It would be better if the environment was not particularly welcoming and friendly to those people who can't produce the highest quality code. If you can't keep up, get out of the way.

        • by ljw1004 ( 764174 )

          It would be better if the environment was not particularly welcoming and friendly to those people who can't produce the highest quality code. If you can't keep up, get out of the way.

          Citation needed.

          I've found it better to reject code that isn't high enough quality in a friendly and welcoming manner -- from my personal experience from my 15 years in the industry, I've found that a quicker and more successful way to motivate substandard coders to become good and productive coders.

          It reminds me of the Aesop's Fable about when the sun and the wind made a bet to see who could get someone to take off my cloak -- so I assume my experience reflects a more or less universal human experience.

          But

    • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:22AM (#57334486)

      "The end of Linux as we know it"? Gee, overreach much?

      No, it won't be the end of Linux as we know it. If anything it could make Linux better by not pushing away code contributors thanks to a sometimes toxic community.

      The issue, which you surely know and are willfully ignoring/misrepresenting is NOT that my code cares about your feelings, but that people in the development community shouldn't be assholes when dealing with each other.

      And you can write good code in a "Safe Space". I've worked at several companies that had very strict rules about conduct in code reviews, problem reporting, and, more generally, meetings. And you know what? We did good and sometimes great work, because we could focus on our work, the stuff we loved about coding, and not the petty personal crap that tends to creep into nearly all workplaces. If someone got out of line, no one even had to complain; word of what happened would inevitably get to mgmt who would discreetly step in, talk to the offender behind closed doors, and that would be the end of it.

      If you value your opportunities to be a jerk more than creating a comfortable, productive work environment, then there's nothing anyone can do to help you.

    • by frank_adrian314159 ( 469671 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @12:04PM (#57334912) Homepage

      You can't develop good code in a Safe Space.

      Personally, I don't see how you develop good software in the middle of a jerk factory bro party either other than by pure luck. But that's me.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:18AM (#57334430)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • ...that a software community should try to make of people a piece of software. Good luck with the debugging.
  • by nagora ( 177841 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:45AM (#57334738)

    The kernel is an engineering project. As such, meritocracy is the only sane way to run it - just like building bridges or ships - if your code is good then it's in, no matter who you are or what you or anyone else identifies you as. There's simply no reason to accept someone or their work if it's sub-standard no matter how hard their lives have been (or are perceived to have been).

    The issue of diversity is a social issue and has to be/needs to be solved elsewhere.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by datalife ( 17290 )

      The issue of diversity is a social issue and has to be/needs to be solved elsewhere.

      Exactly...

      On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

      Or cares about it in the LKML

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by ooloorie ( 4394035 )

        On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

        Leftists who score high in the victim hierarchy are going to let you know whether you want to or not. That's so that they can then attribute anything negative you say to or about them to your supposed prejudice and bias.

  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @11:48AM (#57334768)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • It's over (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Ignatius ( 6850 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @01:12PM (#57335588)

    The extremists from the left, the cultural Marxists, the SJWs have so far destroyed anything they got their hands on: Academia, schools, the media. Linux will be no exception.

    If there is any doubt on their agenda, read "The Post-Meritocracy Manifesto", but in fact, the title says it all. What we're experiencing is a Maoist cultural revolution and the new mob rulers will install themselves in each and every corner of society.

  • by Sean Clifford ( 322444 ) on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @05:23PM (#57337608) Journal

    Now how the Hell are we supposed to rip on someone's shitty code and general incompetence?

    Maintainer's Hurtful Comment: "We don't merge kernel code just because user space was written by a retarded monkey on crack."

    Contributor's Complaint: "[Piercing whine] The Maintainer's comment was harassing and hurtful by ridiculing my autism and other learning disabilities when calling me retarded, belittled both me and my contributions as unimportant by revealing my minority status as an uplifted rhesus monkey, and has created an exclusionary and hostile working environment by holding me up to ridicule by publishing private information about my struggle with non-prescription drugs."

    Enforcement Kangaroos: "After careful review and deliberation, this Technical Advisory Board has determined that the while the Maintainer in question has maintained the kernel with an exceptional level of quality and transparency for many years. Further, the Technical Advisory Board finds that the Contributor has made no positive contribution of any kind an any point to this Project and an objective analysis has shown that the Contributor has proven to be an ongoing hindrance to this Project.

    "Nevertheless, despite the facts uncovered by this review, the Technical Advisory Board has determined that the Maintainer has not followed or enforced the Code of Conduct in good faith, continues to express public distain and disregard for the Contributor. The TAB has decided that while the Maintainer's comments are objectively true and the Maintainer's actions are objectively justifiable, that the Maintainer is, effective immediately, permanently removed from the Project because the appearance of meanness is more important than the actual success of the Project."

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