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You have to consider who your coworkers are. It's all about being considerate of the other people that work alongside you. In a small group everyone might know

You have to consider who your coworkers are. It's all about being considerate of the other people that work alongside you. In a small group everyone might know each other well enough to make that sort of a joke. But when your coworkers could be literally anyone, from a guy in his undies coding as a hobby to someone at a fortune 100 working in a cubicle farm sporting a tuxedo. It seems like the goal is to not offend anyone because that exactly is the goal -- anyone can work on it. There is no way to get to know every participant of a large foss project on a personal level so much so that you understand what jokes they find acceptable or not. So, simply don't make comment irrelevant to the work at hand. Some foss groups specifically dedicate mailing lists and chat rooms for the purpose of socializing where similar jokes and possibly offensive content might be tolerated. When it comes to commits,dev lists,posts or threads it isn't professional to insert irrelevant commentary (at least for a public foss project,one can always have their own company culture and rules for intra-company or private projects)

eesmith 9y ago
Thank you for the follow up. I have a better sense of what you mean now. Part of me still thinks "professional" means "don't upset the status quo", but I will continue to think about it. You mentioned "irrelevant commentary". That made me think of what US employment law refers to as "bona fide occupational qualifications" where employers are allowed to discriminate based on gender, race, religion, etc. It is not workplace harassment to see pornography in the workplace if one works as a video editor in a pornography studio. Pornography at the workplace, therefore, is not an unambiguous sign of unprofessional activity. Now, some software is designed such that the humor will offend some people. The first one that came to mind is Leisure Suit Larry, which is a mild example. Can something like Leisure Suit Larry be developed as a public FOSS project, in a professional sense? Absolutely. But in that case I think there is a bona fide requirement that participants understand that certain jokes are acceptable. My view is that since 'professional' seems so contextual, it seems better to explain the specific context (as you did - thanks again!) than to say something isn't professional.

eesmith 9y ago

Thank you for the follow up. I have a better sense of what you mean now. Part of me still thinks "professional" means "don't upset the status quo", but I will continue to think about it. You mentioned "irrelevant commentary". That made me think of what US employment law refers to as "bona fide occupational qualifications" where employers are allowed to discriminate based on gender, race, religion, etc. It is not workplace harassment to see pornography in the workplace if one works as a video editor in a pornography studio. Pornography at the workplace, therefore, is not an unambiguous sign of unprofessional activity. Now, some software is designed such that the humor will offend some people. The first one that came to mind is Leisure Suit Larry, which is a mild example. Can something like Leisure Suit Larry be developed as a public FOSS project, in a professional sense? Absolutely. But in that case I think there is a bona fide requirement that participants understand that certain jokes are acceptable. My view is that since 'professional' seems so contextual, it seems better to explain the specific context (as you did - thanks again!) than to say something isn't professional.