In the Liri community, participants from all over the world come together to create Free Software for the desktop, most specifically a desktop operating system. This is made possible by the support, hard work and enthusiasm of the people involved, including those who created and use Liri. However, with that comes a responsibility to follow a predefined set of rules that ensures the best experience for all the people involved. This document offers some guidance to ensure participants can cooperate effectively in a positive and inspiring atmosphere, and to explain how together we can strenghten and support each other.

I. Be considerate

Your work will be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work and actions of others. Any decision you take 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 development schedule and guidelines. As a user, remember that contributors work hard on their part of Liri and take great pride in it. If you are frustrated your problems are more likely to be resolved if you can give accurate and well-mannered information to all concerned.

II. Be respectful

In order for the Liri community to stay healthy its members must feel comfortable and accepted. Treating one another with respect is absolutely necessary for this. In a disagreement, in the first instance 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 motivation and productivity. We expect members of our community to be respectful when dealing with other contributors, users and communities. Remember that Liri is a project open to people from all over the world of varying ages, beliefs and levels of maturity and that you may be unaware of important aspects of other cultures. Also you must be conscious of the content you produce and remarks you make. No nudity, excess vulgarity, political content, religious content, or inappropriate content should appear in relation to Liri. Ultimately, the Liri moderators have the final say as to what constitutes as inappropriate. If in doubt, consider whether or not it’s something you’d show to a room full of people including children and grandmothers from around the world. If you’re hesitant, don’t do it.

III. Be collaborative

Collaboration is central to Liri and to the larger Free Software community: it helps limit duplication of effort while improving the quality of the software produced. In order to avoid misunderstanding, try to be clear and concise when requesting help or giving it. Remember it is easy to misunderstand emails (especially when they are not written in your mother tongue). Ask for clarifications if unsure how something is meant; remember the first rule - assume in the first instance that people mean well. As a contributor, you should aim to collaborate with other community members, as well as with other communities that are interested in or depend on the work you do. Your work should be transparent and be fed back into the community when available, not just when Liri releases. If you wish to work on something new in existing projects, keep those projects 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 on 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 the project. As a user, your feedback is important, as is its form. Poorly thought out comments can cause pain and the demotivation of other community members, but considerate discussion of problems can bring positive results. An encouraging word works wonders.

IV. Be pragmatic

Liri 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 worked on. Use the tools and methods which help getting the job done. Let decisions be taken by those who do the work.

V. Consequences

This Code of Conduct is shared by all contributors and users who engage with the Liri team in any forum, mailing list, wiki, web site, IRC channel, public events or private correspondence. Liri governance bodies will arbitrate in any dispute over the conduct of a member of the community. If you choose not to follow this Code of Conduct, we reserve the right to: alter or remove any content you’ve posted; deactivate your account on the website; kick you out of an IRC channel; ban you from the site, IRC channels, or related services; or otherwise prevent you from interacting with the community.

This document is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution - Share Alike 3.0 License.

The author of this document would like to thank the vibrant communities that have helped shape this document with their own examples, such as the KDE, Ubuntu and elementary OS communities and their Code of Conduct.