In the IOTA community, participants from all over the world come together to create. This is made possible by the support, hard work and enthusiasm of thousands of people, including those who create and use the IOTA technology.
This document offers some guidance to ensure IOTA participants can cooperate effectively in a positive and inspiring atmosphere, and to explain how together we can strengthen and support each other.
This Code of Conduct is shared by all contributors and users who engage with the IOTA Foundation team and its community services.
This Code of Conduct presents a summary of the shared values and “common sense” thinking in our community. The basic social ingredients that hold our project together include:
- Being considerate
- Being respectful
- Being collaborative
- Being pragmatic
- Supporting others in the community
- Getting support from others in the community
This Code of Conduct reflects the agreed standards of behavior for members of the IOTA community, in any social media platform, forum, mailing list, wiki, web site, discord channel, public meeting or private correspondence within the context of the IOTA Foundation team and the IOTA Tangle technology. The community acts according to the standards written down in this Code of Conduct and will defend these standards for the benefit of the community. Leaders of any group, such as moderators of social media groups, mailing lists, discord channels, forums, etc., will exercise the right to suspend access to any person who persistently breaks our shared Code of Conduct.
Your actions and work will affect and 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 user, remember that community members work hard on their part of IOTA and take great pride in it.
In order for the IOTA 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 IOTA is an international project and that you may be unaware of important aspects of other cultures.
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.
The IOTA community is pragmatic and fair. 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 to get things done over one which has theoretical merits, but isn’t being worked on. Use the tools and methods which help to get the job done. Let decisions be taken by those who do the work.
The IOTA community is made strong by mutual respect, collaboration and pragmatic, responsible behavior. Sometimes there are situations where this has to be defended and other community members need help.
If you witness others being attacked, think first about how you can offer them personal support. If you feel that the situation is beyond your ability to help individually, go privately to the victim and ask if some form of official intervention is needed.
When problems do arise, consider respectfully reminding those involved of our shared Code of Conduct as a first action. Leaders are defined by their actions and can help set a good example by working to resolve issues in the spirit of this Code of Conduct before they escalate.
Disagreements, both political and technical, happen all the time. Our community is no exception to the rule. The goal is not to avoid disagreements or differing views but to resolve them constructively. You should turn to the community to seek advice and to resolve disagreements and where possible consult the team most directly involved.
Think deeply before turning a disagreement into a public dispute. If necessary, request mediation, and try to resolve differences in a less emotional medium. If you do feel that you or your work is being attacked, take your time to think things through before writing heated replies. Consider a 24-hour moratorium if emotional language is being used – a cooling-off period is sometimes all that is needed. If you really want to go a different way, then we encourage you to publish your ideas and your work, so that it can be tried and tested.
This work, "IOTA Community Guidelines", is a derivative of the Community code of conduct by ownCloud, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. "IOTA Community Guidelines" is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 by IOTA Foundation.