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Sahana Community Etiquette

Sahana consists of a broad and diverse community from different cultures, professional groups and languages as any open community project. Email however is a very limited medium for conveying your good intentions and tone, thus extra care needs to be taken with email and how you communicate for the healthy functioning of our community. Always remember this project is also ultimately about helping to save lives and reduce suffering through the effective application of ICT during a disaster, thus any form of personal disputes can seem very petty in comparison to what this project is trying to achieve.

However with experience we have learned that there are a few simple rule for newbies to follow when using electronic communication such as email and IRC. Here are some of those simple rules you are encouraged to follow in your interaction with the rest of the community.

How to deal with breaches of etiquette

If and when people do breach the etiquette of this list, I do believe it is our duty to alert them, but to do so with sensitivity which shows that we care enough to include them rather than simply rebuking them. Publically shaming someone is never a good way to influence their behaviour. I suggest the following approach:

  1. point out to them that they have acted contrary to the expectations of the list - do so by back channels (back channels are direct communications rather than the list, e.g. phone, instant message, sms message, or direct person-to-person email). It is never appropriate or constructive to admonish someone via the list.
  2. explain to them the rationale for your suggestion - always assume that they have the best of intentions, and make sure they know you do too.
  3. never attack someone personally - it immediately closes any channels of communication that might have been open, and can make people angry/hurt, which is never a good basis for convincing someone that you have a valuable point of view…

The open source community is rich with constructive energy because most people admire generosity and the energy to include and welcome. Let us demonstrate our worthiness.

References


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