Argonaut Constellation’s Code of Conduct

The Argonaut Constellation projects strives to be useful to people of all sorts around the world, regardless of cultural differences. Without pushing our software on anyone. As such it is critical that we be inclusive of feedback and contributions from diverse collaborators.

To this end, we have a few ground rules that we ask people to adhere to. This code applies equally to everyone involved in the projects including founders, mentors, & those seeking help and guidance.

This isn’t an exhaustive list of things that you can’t do. Rather, take it in the spirit in which it’s intended - a guide to make it easier to enrich all of us and the technical communities in which we participate.

This code of conduct applies to all spaces managed by Argonaut Constellation projects, especially public forums like issue trackers and mailing lists. In addition, violations of this code outside these spaces may affect a person’s ability to participate within them.

These principles will be proactively enforced in the process of responding to issues, queries, and discussions; though some violations may get missed. If you believe someone is violating the code of conduct, we ask that you report it by emailing ~alcinnz/conduct-violations@todo.argonaut-constellation.org or submitting to our confidential issue tracker.

• Be friendly and patient.
• Be welcoming. We strive to be a community that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. This includes, but is not limited to members of any race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, colour, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, religion, and mental and physical ability.
• Be considerate. Your work will be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision you take will affect users and colleagues, and you should take those consequences into account when making decisions. Remember that we’re a world-wide community, so you might not be communicating in someone else’s primary language.
• Be respectful. Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behavior and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It’s important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one. Members of the Argonaut community should be respectful when dealing with other members as well as with people outside the Argonaut community.
• Be careful in the words that you choose. We are a community of professionals, and we conduct ourselves professionally. Professionalism here meaning to perform your official or unofficial work whilst avoiding inconveniencing or discouraging others from performing theirs’. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants. Harassment and other exclusionary behavior aren’t acceptable. This includes, but is not limited to:
  • Violent threats or language directed against another person.
  • Discriminatory jokes and language.
  • Posting sexually explicit or violent material.
  • Posting (or threatening to post) other people’s personally identifying information (“doxing”).
  • Personal insults, especially those using racist or sexist terms.
  • Unwelcome sexual attention.
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.
  • Repeated harassment of others. In general, if someone asks you to stop, then stop.
• When we disagree, try to understand why. Disagreements, both social and technical, happen all the time and Argonaut is no exception. It is important to that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively. The strength of the Argonaut Constellation projects comes from being able to handle a diversity of cultures. Different cultures do things differently and none are more “correct” than others. Different people have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why someone holds a viewpoint doesn’t mean that they’re wrong. Don’t forget that it is human to err and blaming each other doesn’t get us anywhere. Instead, focus on helping to resolve issues and learning from mistakes.

Original text courtesy of the Speak Up! project and Django web framework. These guidelines may be refined as is needed as the project grows.

Reporting Guidelines

If you believe someone is violating the code of conduct we ask that you report it by emailing ~alcinnz/conduct-violations@todo.argonaut-constellation.org or submitting to our confidential issue tracker. All reports will be kept confidential. In some cases we may determine that a public statement will need to be made. If that’s the case, the identities of all victims and reporters will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise.

If you believe anyone is in physical danger, please notify appropriate emergancy services first.

If you are unsure whether the incident is a violation, or whether the space where it happened is covered by this Code of Conduct, we encourage you to still report it. We would much rather have a few extra reports where we decide to take no action, rather than miss a report of an actual violation. We do not look negatively on you if we find the incident is not a violation. And knowing about incidents that are not violations, or happen outside our spaces, can also help us to improve the Code of Conduct or the processes surrounding it.

In your report please include:

• Your contact info (so we can get in touch with you if we need to follow up)
• Names (real, nicknames, or pseudonyms) of any individuals involved. If there were other witnesses besides you, please try to include them as well.
• When and where the incident occurred. Please be as specific as possible.
• Your account of what occurred. If there is a publicly available record (e.g. a mailing list archive or a public IRC logger) please include a link.
• Any extra context you believe existed for the incident.
• If you believe this incident is ongoing.
• Any other information you believe we should have.

What happens after you file a report?

You will receive an email from one of the Argonaut Constellation leads acknowledging receipt immediately. We promise to acknowledge receipt within 24 hours (and will aim for much quicker than that).

Once we have a complete account of the events and are sure no one’s in any immediate harm we will make a decision as to how to respond. Responses may include:

• Nothing (if we determine no violation occurred).
• A private reprimand from the working group to the individual(s) involved.
• A public reprimand.
• An imposed vacation (i.e. asking someone to “take a week off” from a mailing list, XMPP, or issue tracker).
• A permanent or temporary ban from some or all Argonaut spaces
• A request for a public or private apology.

We’ll respond within one week to the person who filed the report with either what action (if any) we are taking, or an explanation of why more time is needed to determine a course of action.

Once we’ve determined our final action, we’ll contact the original reporter to let them know what action (if any) we’ll be taking. We’ll take into account feedback from the reporter on the appropriateness of our response, but we don’t guarantee we’ll act on it.