Code of Conduct

Be considerate.

Your actions and work will affect and be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work and actions of others. Any decision you make will affect other community members, and we expect you to take those consequences into account when making decisions.

As a contributor, ensure that you give full credit for the work of others and bear in mind how your changes affect others. It is also expected that you try to follow the project schedule and guidelines.

As a user, remember that contributors work hard on their contributions to Mageia and take great pride in it. If you get frustrated with a particular issue, your problems are more likely to be resolved if you can give accurate and well-mannered information to all concerned.

Be respectful.

In order for the Mageia community to stay healthy, its members must feel comfortable and accepted. Treating one another with respect is absolutely necessary for this to be achieved. If any disagreement occurs, you should first assume that people mean well.

We do not tolerate personal attacks, racism, sexism or any other form of discrimination. Disagreement is inevitable from time to time, but respect for the views of others will go a long way to winning respect for your own view. Respecting other people, their work, their contributions and assuming well-meaning motivation will make community members feel comfortable and safe, and will result in more motivation and productivity.

We expect members of our community to be respectful when dealing with other contributors, users and communities. Remember that Mageia is an international project and that you may be unaware of important aspects of other cultures.

Be collaborative.

The Free Software Movement depends on collaboration: it helps limit duplication of effort while improving the quality of the produced software. In order to avoid misunderstanding, try to be clear and concise when requesting or giving help. Remember that it is easy to misunderstand emails (especially when they are not written in your mother tongue). Ask for clarifications if something seems unclear; remember the first rule - first, assume that people mean well.

As a contributor, you should aim to collaborate with other community members as well as with other communities (upstream projects for instance) that are interested in, or depend on the work you do. Your work should be transparent and be fed back into the community as quickly as possible (even when not fully completed). If you wish to work on something new in existing projects, keep those projects team informed of your ideas and progress.

It may not always be possible to reach consensus on the implementation of an idea, so don't feel obliged to achieve this before you begin. However, always ensure that you keep the outside world informed of your work and publish it in a way that allows outsiders to test, discuss, and contribute to your efforts.

Contributors to every project come and go. When you leave or disengage from the project, in whole or in part, you should do so with pride about what you have achieved and by acting responsibly towards others who come after you to continue working on the project.

As a user, your feedback is important, as is its form. Poorly considered comments can cause pain and demotivate other community members, but considerate discussion of problems can bring positive results. An encouraging word works wonders.

Be pragmatic.

Mageia is a pragmatic community.

We value tangible results over having the last word in a discussion. We defend our core values like freedom and respectful collaboration, but we don't let arguments about minor issues get in the way of achieving more important results. We are open to suggestions and welcome solutions regardless of their origin. When in doubt, support a solution which helps getting things done over one which has theoretical merits, but isn't being implemented. Use the tools and methods which help get the job done. Let decisions be made by those who do the work. If some issues arise that seem irreconcilable, consult the relevant team leader. If necessary, the Mageia Council may be consulted.

Support others in the community.

Our community is made strong by mutual respect, collaboration and responsible, pragmatic behaviour. Sometimes these values have to be defended and other community members may need help.

If you witness others being attacked, think first about how you can offer them personal support. If you feel that the situation is beyond your ability to help individually, go privately to the victim and ask if some form of official intervention is needed. Similarly you should support anyone who appears to be in danger of burning out, either through work-related stress or personal problems.

When problems arise, consider respectfully reminding those involved of our shared Code of Conduct as a first action. Leaders are defined by their actions, and can help set a good example by working to resolve issues in the spirit of this Code of Conduct before those issues escalate.

Get support from others in the community.

Disagreements, both political and technical, happen all the time. Our community is not an exception. The goal is not to avoid disagreements or differing views but to resolve them constructively. You should turn to the community to seek advice and to resolve disagreements, and where possible, consult the team(s) most directly involved.

Think deeply before turning a disagreement into a public dispute. If necessary request mediation and attempt to resolve differences in a less highly-emotional medium. If you do feel that you or your work is being attacked, take your time to breathe before writing heated replies. Consider a 24 hour moratorium if emotional language is being used - a cooling off period is sometimes all that is needed. If you really want to go a different way, then we encourage you to publish your ideas and your work, so that it can be tried and tested.

This document is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution - Share Alike 3.0 License (parent version).