Starting Your Own OSS: Enforcing a Code of Conduct

A code of conduct is a great way to communicate behavioral expectations for a com­munity. But a code of conduct isn’t enough to create a healthy community on its own; you have to enforce it.

It would be wonderful if you never had to enforce your code of conduct. Most people who participate in your project will be helpful and kind. However, as your project grows and more people get involved, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll have to step in.

1. Responding with kindness

Keep in mind that even when someone acts in a matter that doesn’t fit in the spirit of your code of conduct, they may not necessarily be malicious or a bad actor. Maybe they’re having a bad day, and they took it out on your repository. That doesn’t excuse their behavior, but it is relatable. We’ve all done it.

If someone makes an off color or angry comment in an issue in your repository that goes against the type of community you want to foster, it’s often disarming to reply back with a kind response that expresses empathy for their situation, but is clear that the comment doesn’t meet community guidelines. Be specific in how it does not meet the guidelines and if you can, suggest an alternative approach they could have taken.

For example, if someone comments on the repository that the maintainer must hate other people because they haven’t fixed a particular bug, you can respond with something like “Personal attacks are not welcome in this repository. We are all volunteers trying to work on this in our spare time. I understand that you are frustrated. Instead of a personal attack, perhaps write about how the bug affects you and why that is frustrating to you.”

But always remember, you don’t owe anybody anything. You’re not there to be a punching bag for people. If they’re abusive or if you’re simply tired of a thousand paper cuts of negative comments, rather than respond while angry, take a break. Walk away. Ask for help. Your own mental well-being comes first.

2. Leveraging the ban hammer

It would be nice if a kind admonishment worked in every situation (see preceding section), but sometimes tempers flare. We’re all human, and sometimes we lose our temper. So will people who participate in your repository. This situation is where temporary interaction limits come in handy.

At the very bottom of the Settings page for your public repository (this setting doesn’t exist for a private repository) is a moderation section with a link to Inter­action limits. Click this link to see the set of limits available. Figure 10-7 shows this page after enabling the Limit to existing users option.

These limits are not permanent bans. They are cool-down periods. This tool is great to use when a discussion or an issue gets a bit too heated. It gives everyone time to cool down and prevents the discussion from running even further out of control.

3. Blocking users

Every once in a while, you may encounter a truly abusive person in your project. You’ve tried to kill them with kindness. You’ve tried the 24-hour cool-down periods, but they persist in being rude or antagonistic. It is time to block or report the user.

To block or report the user:

  1. Click the user’s name next to their comment to visit their profile page.

Underneath their profile picture is a link to block or report the user, as shown in Figure 10-8.

  1. Click the link to block or report the user.

A dialog box with two options appears: Block user or Report abuse, as shown in Figure 10-9.

  1. Click Block user to immediately block the user.

Blocking a user denies a user from accessing your activity and repositories.

It also prevents them from sending you notifications, such as when they @ mention your username. They pretty much no longer exist as far as you are concerned, and vice versa. For more details on what happens when you block auser,visithttps://help.github.com/articles/blocking-a-user-from-your- personal-account/.

You can also block users, see a list of users you currently have blocked, and unblock users from your account Settings page by going to https://github.com/ settings/blocked_users.

Source: Guthals Sarah, Haack Phil (2019), GitHub for Dummies, Wiley.

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