Develop code of conduct for use in source code repositories

[bilsch]

We should develop a code of conduct for all of our repositories. I suggest we make reference to the opensource.guide code of conduct page for this.

This document should be added to all source code repositories. If we open up things like forums, mailing lists or other public things we should consider this document for those uses as well.

[rubberduck203]

Be excellent to each other. ~ Bill Preston

Seriously though, this is a good idea.

[skpy]

The Debian Code of Conduct is succinct; but feels a little lacking in comparison to some other documents. Consider, for example, the Mozilla Participation Guidelines. I like this one a lot.

[joelgerber]

Completely agree, this is a great idea.

[skpy]

The Apache Way is another good role model. It's not perfect, and there are internal struggles, but I think the ASF is doing more right than wrong as evidenced by their longevity and their success in incubating and supporting such a diverse portfolio of projects.

[bking2u]

This could be used to drive the culture of the community by "setting the tone" Maybe we should consider merging the most liked documents and then putting our communal brand on it.

[bilsch]

https://github.com/firecracker-microvm/firecracker/blob/master/CONTRIBUTE.md is an execellent example of what I had in mind with the creation of this issue fwiw

[bilsch]

There has been some discussion in #14 about developing a code of conduct being somewhat out of scope for the twg. Recommending that one be created is within scope.

I do agree with this assertion so for now this issue will be detached from the milestone. We can re-visit this later.

[bilsch]

Some feedback from the 12/13 presentation on milestone 2

1. what to do when someone violates the code of conduct? - should this one be added to the issue linked above?

We will need to think about this in a few contexts. We need to ensure things are handled properly. We also need to ensure the code of conduct we write up includes clear wording on what those responses are.

[PhilNorman2]

What I also heard in the call was that due to the ties to government, it is likely Scos needs to be pretty explicit about enforcement and reporting rules and likely will need escalation beyond maintainers - directly to a SmartColumbus authority - in some cases and that there may be restrictions on actions taken.

Along these lines, the opensource.guide code of conduct talks about levels of escalation, for example someone wants to report on one of the project reporters. The Django code of conduct addresses this directly and in a detailed way. I am not sure it is for us but it is a good reference.

Contributor Covenant is an open source code of conduct used by Kubernetes, Swift, Google, etc. also talks about reporting and enforcement but hits on just the core points. It leaves further policy details up to the community:

_## Enforcement

Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported by contacting the project team at [INSERT EMAIL ADDRESS]. All complaints will be reviewed and investigated and will result in a response that is deemed necessary and appropriate to the circumstances. The project team is obligated to maintain confidentiality with regard to the reporter of an incident. Further details of specific enforcement policies may be posted separately.

Project 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._

I like this approach. You have an open source core that works for most communities and then the ability to extend with our own policies.

[joelgerber]

I wasn't able to join the last call but I agree I like this approach.