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I personally have no interest in PHP or BDSM but I think really everyone who wants to participate in Open Source Software in 2017 should be paying attention to

I personally have no interest in PHP or BDSM but I think really everyone who wants to participate in Open Source Software in 2017 should be paying attention to this along with other instances where people have been kicked/banned from projects alongside public accusations against them. Especially if you have been participating in online communities for a while, your conversations have probably been archived and are open to scrutiny based moral standards that are constantly changing, both in terms of who is applying them to the project, and changes in the views of each individual. And when I say your conversations, I mean both conversations that you've held in public-ish settings and also conversations that you believed to be private that could be forwarded or screenshot without your knowledge or consent. Or conversations where you believed you were pseudo-anonymous where your identity was later reveled. Also, given international participation of many projects, the moral inquisitors may hold views that are significantly different than anyone you've ever met or interacted with in a non-technical setting. I think the TV show Black Mirror should be shown in high schools as an educational video.

thesmallestcat 10y ago
This is why I stopped helping/participating in ##javascript on Freenode, and I don't think I'm alone. [Nicks of two enthusiastic mods redacted] made it clear (in channel as well as in private /msg) that any perceived troublemaking, if it could be distorted to break a CoC rule, would result in the user being blacklisted at most major JavaScript events. Who would accept that career risk? Having your name on such a list would be devastating. Increasingly, small groups of SJW-types (sorry, I can't think of a better description right now) are controlling mainstream open source communities. It seems these days more and more like if you want to actively participate in open source, you either have to fit a narrow definition of a Good Person, or else be a cold oracle of code, producing nothing but fact.
smoyer 10y ago
"I personally have no interest in PHP or BDSM" ... ouch! I have to say that my impression of "Larry" (who I've never heard of before) is pretty bad after reading his essay. I think he ended up saying something to offend everyone - I've known plenty of people like him. The upshot is that you don't have to agree with everyone (or anyone) but you can still be civil. Good luck Larry.

thesmallestcat 10y ago

This is why I stopped helping/participating in ##javascript on Freenode, and I don't think I'm alone. [Nicks of two enthusiastic mods redacted] made it clear (in channel as well as in private /msg) that any perceived troublemaking, if it could be distorted to break a CoC rule, would result in the user being blacklisted at most major JavaScript events. Who would accept that career risk? Having your name on such a list would be devastating. Increasingly, small groups of SJW-types (sorry, I can't think of a better description right now) are controlling mainstream open source communities. It seems these days more and more like if you want to actively participate in open source, you either have to fit a narrow definition of a Good Person, or else be a cold oracle of code, producing nothing but fact.

smoyer 10y ago

"I personally have no interest in PHP or BDSM" ... ouch! I have to say that my impression of "Larry" (who I've never heard of before) is pretty bad after reading his essay. I think he ended up saying something to offend everyone - I've known plenty of people like him. The upshot is that you don't have to agree with everyone (or anyone) but you can still be civil. Good luck Larry.