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Code of Conduct Conflict resolution
There will be times when people do not follow the spirit or letter of the Code Of Conduct. When those issues occur, we should follow a process to try and resolve them and keep Fedora fun and respectful.
Try and resolve the problem yourself
Attempt to resolve the issue at the lowest level first. If you are offended by someone's behavior, review the code of conduct and try and understand their point of view. Perhaps it's a misunderstanding or communication problem? Maybe a different understanding of the language or a difference in cultures? Perhaps it's a poor attempt at humor? If you have offended someone by your behavior, perhaps a apology would be in order (even if you are unsure what caused the issue).
Some things to try/consider:
- If the involved parties won't listen to you, could you bring a respected community member in to mediate?
- If the issue is heated, could waiting a few days and letting tempers cool before revisiting the issue help?
- Is there a technical way for everyone's solutions to work ? Or at least not interfere with each other?
- Can you redirect the people involved into a more appropriate forum for the issue?
Forum / Channel / Mailing list moderators
If issues persist and involved folks are unable to resolve them, the next step would be to ask a moderator of whatever resource the issue is occurring in to step in. IRC Channel operator, mailing list moderator, etc. Some of these forums may have their own way to deal with issues, follow their process. Let them know what the issue is and respectfully allow them to decide what to do.
If you are a moderator try to resolve the issue in a way that all parties feel they were listened to and in a way that behavior that does not follow the code of conduct is eliminated.
Some things to try/consider:
- Try a private message asking the involved parties to look at the code of conduct/think more about their behavior.
- Follow any published processes your area may have. Note to involved parties the specific things they are facing or have broken.
- Can you post/note/speak out that the behavior is not acceptable and redirect involved parties to other issues?
- Seek advice or thoughts from others that are uninvolved in the conflict for ideas to redirect or resolve the issue.
- Avoid threatening involved parties. If you are going to act (ban, moderate, remove) someone, do so in a fair and even handed manner.
If this is a mailing list, you can usually contact the owner(s) at: 'listname-owner@listaddress'
If this is IRC, you can find a list of channel operators from chanserv: "/cs access #fedorawhatever list". (If this is one of #fedora or #fedora-social, you can get operator attention with the '@ops message' or by asking in #fedora-ops).
If this is in person at an event, you can talk to the event organizers.
Other areas may have their own contact process and procedures.
Fedora Board
If involved parties feel the decision of the moderators/channel operators were unfair or biased, they can raise the issue to the Fedora Board.
Some things to try/consider:
- If you bring an issue to the Board, they may not decide the issue in your favor. Be understanding of any decisions made.
- Handling of the issue could be reviewed and feedback for moderators/mailing lists managers provided. This may result in changes to policy, so be aware if you bring it up you may change things for the area you are working in.
- Violations of the Code of Conduct may be resolved by suggestions for avoiding the problem in the future up to permanent exclusion from the project, and anything in-between.
The final decision takes place with the Fedora Board.