[UbuntuWomen] Making Ubuntu-for-all _work_

[Jono Bacon]

On Tue, 2007-05-22 at 00:12 +1000, Jacinta Richardson wrote:
> Jono Bacon wrote:
> 
> >  * I want to be absolutely clear here that my role here is advisory for
> > ubuntu-women. [...]
> 
> >  * On a related note, I am not here to implement any plans or schemes -
> 
> Okay then.  Can you advise me on who you hope/anticipate will implement Ubuntu 
> For All?  In particular, is there a Community Council member willing to be part 
> of it, officially, and liaise with it and the rest of the CC?  Because having 
> someone in this capacity seems to me to be the most likely way to make the whole 
> thing work.

Like any Open Source project, all it needs is someone to look after it,
define some direction and work to get it implemented. This person needs
to set a roadmap and work to get it done by encouraging others to get
involved and help.

> >  * I think modifying the CoC is dodgy ground, and modifying a document
> > such as the CoC is not really going to change anything in my opinion - I
> > suspect it is wider social opinion that needs to be changed as well as
> 
> Changing documentation will probably be easier than changing social opinion. 
> But as I said earlier, my focus isn't to change the CoC so much as to provide 
> some elaboration (somewhere) about what being respectful means.  As Jan Claeys 
> says, having separate documents on more specific topics allows those documents 
> to evolve and perhaps differ between teams.

I think what may be better is a quick guide about being respectful in
the Ubuntu community - a bunch of bullet points outlining how to be
respectful and how discrimination is not tolerated.

>  > smaller, more manageable problems such as specific incidents that need
>  > to be judged fairly in the community.
> 
> How are these judgements handled at the moment?  What happens when the judgement 
> is that someone was out of line?  I've already pointed out that shaming people 
> into correct behaviour doesn't work if the majority appear to be "cool" with the 
> wrong behaviour.

If someone has a serious issue with someone, they should take it to the
CC. I think they key thing is making it clear in each scenario that
discriminatory behaviour will not be tolerated, and this requires all of
us to be strong and stand up to each case.

> Here's a question that's been bothering me.  By and large, most men in FOSS 
> appear to be happy with the status quo, despite the fact that it keeps female 
> participation at about 1.5%.  If someone did a poll asking the Ubuntu members 
> whether they'd be willing to make modest changes to their behaviour to make 
> Ubuntu a friendlier place for some currently-discriminated-against group (for 
> example women, but not necessarily), and 80% of responses said "No", what then? 
>   I'm not suggesting that we do such a poll, I'm just wondering whether - as the 
> Community Manager - you think that encouraging people to change when the 
> majority disagrees on the necessity is within your responsibilities?  Is there a 
> CC position statement on why greater diversity would help Ubuntu?

I don't believe for a second that "most men in FOSS  appear to be happy
with the status quo, despite the fact that it keeps female participation
at about 1.5%" - I think that the current situation is combination of
lazyness on the part of everyone at approaching the issue, the cliquey
nature of any community and a microcosm of wider discrimination against
women in IT within our community. I think most men think it sucks, but
there is a big difference between thinking something sucks and actually
doing something about it. I don't think we should be worried about the
validity of this message, I am willing to bet that the majority of the
community believe in equality, and if they don't, well, they should. :)

> >  * If you all disagree with my view of where we should go forward, feel
> > free to head in your own direction - my points about a general
> > anti-discrimination campaign but with specific teams forming part of
> > that campaign are so we can all work together to fight discrimination in
> > the community.
> 
> I don't think this is crack, although I'm wondering how you forsee it happening, 
> specifically who you anticipate taking responsibility for it happening.  I'd 
> also love to hear more feedback from you on my original questions:
> 
> Regarding respect:
> 	Are you happy to start with Vid's document?

Which document?

> 	How can this document be improved?  (Feel free to make changes)
> 	How can this be written to be acceptable to the Ubuntu community?
> 	How might we go about attaching this to the CoC, or is there
> 	a better place for it?
> 
> Regarding consequences.
> 	Are there clear consequences detailed from the Ubuntu Community Council
> 	for various offences?

The CC is a governing body who judges independent situations. There is
no mandate of consequences, they would be judged on individual
scenarios.

> 	Beyond banning persistent offenders from various parts (or the whole) of
> 	the project are there other consequences that can be invoked?  For
> 	example, is there a way we can make examples of those who misbehave
> 	(hall of shame?) without making it a competition to get listed?

There are few serious issues that require banning, but each situation is
judged independently. It really does depend on the scenario, but rest
assured, suitable action would be taken against offenders.

	Jono

-- 
Jono Bacon
Ubuntu Community Manager
jono(at)ubuntu(dot)com
www.ubuntu.com / www.jonobacon.org