Why do we have a Code of Conduct?

We want everyone to be able to approach the topics of Linux and Open source in an encouraging environment, and to experiment with these topics and tools. Therefore, it is important to us, that we act respectfully with each other. And to have a common understanding of what this respectful conduct ist, we have our Code of Conduct, in which we describe those things, which we definitely not consider to be respectful. Beyond these things we all are encouraged to learn together to meet and respect each others needs.

Additionally to this Code of Conduct we also have document describing in a more pro-active way how we want to conduct ourselves as a social context, and what we think is important to consider when exchanging ideas and working together: Social Framework

Unacceptable and unwanted behaviour

• Harassment: this includes insulting, abusive or offensive verbal and textual comments based on personal traits, sexual(ised) imagery or comments in public or online spaces, targeted intimidation, bullying, stalking, bothering photography or other types of recordings, continued interruption of others while they speak, inappropriate and unsolicited physical contact, unwanted sexual attention.
• Discriminatory statements: e.g. saying things that are explicitly racist, sexist, homophobic etc. This includes assertions that some people are in any way „better“ or „worse“ than other people based on their skin colour, their sex or gender, their sexual identity, or other social categories. This also includes some things that probably seem less explicitly as discriminatory (things that we might not always be aware off), if others already told you before, that this is not ok.
• Derogatory statements about individual people: e.g. statements intended to make other people feel bad, because they are not conforming to an established (or stereotypical) practice in our social context (e.g. because the are not using Linux, or because they are checking there with Microsoft Outlook, or because they are „only“ using the nano editor on the command line, or they don’t use dark mode, etc.), or other statements that can be interpreted as mockery. The important thing here is that this might happen, even if you did not explicitly intend to make others feel bad, maybe you just wanted to point out how cool you are yourself or conform to some established nerd banter. Yet, the effect is as if it was intended. So if someone points out to you that this might be the case, don’t deflect, but listen and reflect.
• Unwanted attention: e.g. eyeballing, continually talking insistently to someone without their feedback, pushy offers of help, disregarding of personal space and boundaries.
• Please do not bring along your Pet to a meeting due to possible phobias and allergies (in case of assistance animals please let us know in advance)-

Scope

This Code of Conduct is active for the following rooms and communication channels:

• Meetings (offline + online, officially announced meetups, but also smaller informal groups in the context of the meetup)
• Our Discord server
• Our mailing list

Enforcement

This Code of Conduct or a relevant summary thereof should be presented at the begin of every meeting, when introducing the meeting and each other.

Potential consequences:

On disregard of our Code of Conduct one ore more of the following consequences may apply, based on the „severity“/impact:

• You receive a hint (e.g. „Your behaviour just before was not ok!“)
• You receive a warning (which is not yet a reason for a ban/exclusion, but could lead to an exclusion, when repeated)
• Temporary exclusion (ban): you are banned/excluded temporarily (e.g. for the duration of a meeting) from the room/communication channel (e.g. „Please leave the meeting now!“)
• Permanent exclusion (ban): you are banned/excluded permanently (or until explicit lifting of the ban) from all rooms and communication channels of the Feminist Linux Meetup (including removal from the mailing list and/or Discord server)

If you are confronted with and accusation or already with one of these consequences, it does not mean that you are a „bad person“. But your behaviour or a statement you made has led to our space not being the space anymore that we wanted to create. In order for all of us to learn from that, and to learn how to better respect each other, we often need time and space to process. So instead of trying to defend your action, take a step back and reflect upon the situation and what led to it – it also helps to do that with other people who you trust. Think about what the person affected by your behaviour or statement might need to feel safe and accepted again. This can reach from a simple and short apology to permanently staying away from this specific context.

Reporting

If you encounter behaviour in disregard of this Code of Conduct, or if you want to make us aware about any other overwhelming or uncomfortable situation, please report this to one of the people who are currently part of our awareness team:

• Lorb
• Jackie
• Kathi
• Jaz

This is how you can contact us:

• talk to us personally
• write a direct message to us on Discord
• write an e-mail to one of us (e.g. if you already know our address from mails on the list or some other communication)
• write an e-mail to all of us: feminist-linux-awareness [ät] diebin [dot] at (this is a separate mailbox, which will only be read by the listed members of the awareness team)

Why should I „report“ unwanted behaviour?

You are (like all of us) co-responsible for making the Feminist Linux Meetup an encouraging space and experience for everyone. We want to work together towards this goal and we need your support. We also need your input to further develop and adapt our Code of Conduct. If you worry about the consequences for a person you would want to report, also think about what it does to the space and our social context, if we tolerate inappropriate behaviour (or if we just look the other way when it is happening).

Not every negative behaviour has to be always „reported“ to the awareness team. But it is important not just to ignore that something is a little bit off or not really appropriate. So talk to others about it. Only by doing so we have a chance to evolve individually as well as a social structure. The awareness team is here so that there always is at least one person you can talk to and who can facilitate the reflection process, even and especially if you feel you don’t have the energy for that.

How we developed this Code of Conduct

The structure and some parts of the content we are strongly inspired by the CoC of the Recurse Center (with parts of it translated by us initially to German – this English version is now a translation with some extensions based on our German version). The description of harrasment was mostly based on and translated from the PyLadies CoC. Additonally, we took some inspirations (especially when it comes to our social framework) from the p5js CoC and the Django Girls Coaching Guidelines, Tips and Tricks.