5 ms·

Off topic, is it normal now to include a "Code of Conduct" in new, single-contributor projects? I thought it was more of a reactive thing.

swyx 8y ago
simple copy paste job, avoids "changing the contract" later. i agree it doesnt make sense as a standalone thing but it takes 2 seconds to copy
eropple 8y ago
I don't know what's "normal", but I believe very strongly in specifying acceptable behaviors from the jump when trying to build a community. Thanks for taking a look.
- alangpierce 8y ago
  @eropple Sort of a nitpick, but you might want to replace "[INSERT EMAIL ADDRESS]" with your actual email address. :-) https://github.com/eropple/taskbotjs/blob/master/CODE-OF-CONDUCT.md https://github.com/eropple/taskbotjs/blob/master/CODE-OF-CON...
  - eropple 8y ago
    I just hit my forehead hard enough to wake the dog. Thanks. :)
- sequoia 8y ago
  "YAGNI" is the first thing that pops into my head. d:o)
Kequc 8y ago
It's virtue signalling.
- camdenlock 8y ago
  Yup. And apparently that really does generate valuable social currency.
- adamsea 8y ago
  Calling out virtue signalling is arguably itself a flavor of virtue signalling, just for (some) other virtues ;)
  - Kequc 8y ago
    Agreed. Lets just skip the whole thing next time. :)
alangpierce 8y ago
See https://opensource.guide/starting-a-project/ https://opensource.guide/starting-a-project/ for GitHub's latest advice on starting an open source project, which includes adding a Code of Conduct. I think single-person projects just starting out can get away with just a LICENSE and README, but it's best to have CONTRIBUTING and CODE_OF_CONDUCT if you expect any contributions. Hopefully it's rare that it's needed, but it's really easy to add and a nice thing to have proactively instead of reactively, and plenty of people feel more welcome when things like that are explicit.
swebs 8y ago
Github pushes you to create one when you create a repo. They started pushing codes of conduct a few years ago after Github hired a self-proclaimed "Notorious Social Justice Warrior"[1]. This of course, caused all kinds of backlash and culture war fighting[2-4]. As someone else said, it's essentially virtue-signalling, but most of the blame should go on GitHub rather than new maintainers who probably don't know better. [1] https://where.coraline.codes/ https://where.coraline.codes/ [2] https://old.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/3fpnuw/githubs_new_code_of_conduct_says_our_open_source/ https://old.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/3fpnuw/githubs_... [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10027332 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10027332 [4] https://techcrunch.com/2016/03/05/how-we-may-mesh/ https://techcrunch.com/2016/03/05/how-we-may-mesh/
- eropple 8y ago
  I, uh, appreciate your "benefit of the doubt", but I should set the record straight: I very consciously put that file in there. GitHub did not suggest it, I chose to do it (and you can even see--brace yourself--that the build scripts copy it into each package when it builds them!). While, if we're being honest, the impact of a code of conduct on even a large project is fairly small--it can be ignored just as easily as anything else--it's really good at outing people who think complaints of "virtue signaling" matter as much as a fart in a thunderstorm. I don't want to work with people who act that way and if having a code of conduct in there is a sufficient "you are unwelcome if you cannot act decently" sign, then by god I'll conduct those codes.
- tptacek 8y ago
  Please don't try to stir up pointless drama here.
vertex-four 8y ago
The Rust programming language had a Code of Conduct from the get-go. In general, having one gives a reasonable idea of the type of community you'd like to build around the project, and avoids the mess of trying to add one once you have a pile of vehemently anti-CoC community members.

swyx 8y ago

simple copy paste job, avoids "changing the contract" later. i agree it doesnt make sense as a standalone thing but it takes 2 seconds to copy

eropple 8y ago

I don't know what's "normal", but I believe very strongly in specifying acceptable behaviors from the jump when trying to build a community. Thanks for taking a look.

alangpierce 8y ago
@eropple Sort of a nitpick, but you might want to replace "[INSERT EMAIL ADDRESS]" with your actual email address. :-) https://github.com/eropple/taskbotjs/blob/master/CODE-OF-CONDUCT.md https://github.com/eropple/taskbotjs/blob/master/CODE-OF-CON...
- eropple 8y ago
  I just hit my forehead hard enough to wake the dog. Thanks. :)
sequoia 8y ago
"YAGNI" is the first thing that pops into my head. d:o)

Kequc 8y ago

It's virtue signalling.

camdenlock 8y ago
Yup. And apparently that really does generate valuable social currency.
adamsea 8y ago
Calling out virtue signalling is arguably itself a flavor of virtue signalling, just for (some) other virtues ;)
- Kequc 8y ago
  Agreed. Lets just skip the whole thing next time. :)

alangpierce 8y ago

See https://opensource.guide/starting-a-project/ https://opensource.guide/starting-a-project/ for GitHub's latest advice on starting an open source project, which includes adding a Code of Conduct. I think single-person projects just starting out can get away with just a LICENSE and README, but it's best to have CONTRIBUTING and CODE_OF_CONDUCT if you expect any contributions. Hopefully it's rare that it's needed, but it's really easy to add and a nice thing to have proactively instead of reactively, and plenty of people feel more welcome when things like that are explicit.

swebs 8y ago

Github pushes you to create one when you create a repo. They started pushing codes of conduct a few years ago after Github hired a self-proclaimed "Notorious Social Justice Warrior"[1]. This of course, caused all kinds of backlash and culture war fighting[2-4]. As someone else said, it's essentially virtue-signalling, but most of the blame should go on GitHub rather than new maintainers who probably don't know better. [1] https://where.coraline.codes/ https://where.coraline.codes/ [2] https://old.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/3fpnuw/githubs_new_code_of_conduct_says_our_open_source/ https://old.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/3fpnuw/githubs_... [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10027332 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10027332 [4] https://techcrunch.com/2016/03/05/how-we-may-mesh/ https://techcrunch.com/2016/03/05/how-we-may-mesh/

eropple 8y ago
I, uh, appreciate your "benefit of the doubt", but I should set the record straight: I very consciously put that file in there. GitHub did not suggest it, I chose to do it (and you can even see--brace yourself--that the build scripts copy it into each package when it builds them!). While, if we're being honest, the impact of a code of conduct on even a large project is fairly small--it can be ignored just as easily as anything else--it's really good at outing people who think complaints of "virtue signaling" matter as much as a fart in a thunderstorm. I don't want to work with people who act that way and if having a code of conduct in there is a sufficient "you are unwelcome if you cannot act decently" sign, then by god I'll conduct those codes.
tptacek 8y ago
Please don't try to stir up pointless drama here.

vertex-four 8y ago

The Rust programming language had a Code of Conduct from the get-go. In general, having one gives a reasonable idea of the type of community you'd like to build around the project, and avoids the mess of trying to add one once you have a pile of vehemently anti-CoC community members.