[python-committers] PEP 8015: Organization of the Python community

[Antoine Pitrou]

Le 15/10/2018 à 12:00, Victor Stinner a écrit :
> Le lun. 15 oct. 2018 à 11:35, Antoine Pitrou <antoine at python.org> a écrit :
>>> I don't want to put this responsibility on the board. So yes,
>>> conflicts between core developers will be handled by the conduct WG.
>>
>> How does that work?  The conduct WG doesn't even seem to have published
>> procedures.  Also we cannot expect them to follow the history of
>> interpersonal interactions in Python core development.
> 
> https://wiki.python.org/psf/ConductWG/Charter contains many information.

That information doesn't seem to include resolving conflicts.  It
advises on policies, creates a set of standard documents, and develops
training materials.

My understanding is that the WG is not meant to handle conflicts by
itself.  Rather, it gives guidance to other bodies on how to handle
conflicts.  So we would have to have our own body for handling
conflicts, such as an ethical committee.

> ... That's just guesses, I don't know much about this conduct group
> :-) It seems to be one of your concern, the lack of transparency?

That, and the fact they're outside the loop of core development, and
don't know anything about the usual social / power dynamics here.  They
also don't have the time to devote that a professional magistrate would
have.

> Replace "Linus" with any other
> famous/popular Linux developer. And why no action has been taken to
> reduce the toxicity of the Linux mailing list when Sage Sharp wrote a
> blog post explaining clearly that the Linux community has issues?

But do you think an external WG would have had the authority to deal
with the problem?  People did criticize Linus' behaviour, even amongst
kernel developers.  But there wasn't any solution exercisable from the
outside.  You couldn't just displace Linus and put someone else in
power, because that wouldn't have been accepted by the broader community.

Only a recognized body formed by the community itself could be
legitimate enough to take action.  Which suggests to me that the CoC WG
can be a source of advice and suggestions, not take decisions by itself.

Regards

Antoine.