You are welcome. Ensure that you are also welcoming. We want everyone to feel welcome no matter what the colour of their skin, where they live, or where their ancestors came from. We want to welcome people from all cultures, and religions, and of all sizes and shapes. We want people to be welcome no matter their sexual identity or orientation. We want you to feel welcome no matter your level of experience or ability. And we want you to help us make everyone else feel welcomed, too.

We are a diverse community, working often to multiple goals. We assume the best intent from each other, and do not ascribe malice. Assume that if someone is complaining about your conduct, it is because they either genuinely feel it is exclusionary to them, or they genuinely believe it is exclusionary to others - in the first instance, take it as a learning experience, correct your conduct and move on. If possible, assume, too, that bad conduct from others may derive from a misunderstanding or a lack of that learning experience rather than a deliberate attempt to exclude - in the first instance, correct them and move on. Do not, however, use this as an excuse for bad conduct or a reason to ignore it.

A small amount of effort in ensuring your words are professional and polite, and avoiding subjects and expressions that may offend, goes a long way. Humour is not a mitigating factor here.

It's often useful to limit your comments to the point you wish to make if you're unsure.

Examples of what to avoid:

• Racist language, whether intentional or not.
• Threats of violence, or violent language directed against someone else.
• Sexually explicit imagery, language, or behaviour.

Disagreements are normal and common. Sometimes, the different goals we have in our shared endeavour conflict, and it is important that we are able to explain why. Criticism is essential to find the best solutions to the problems that face us. However, it is vital that while we are open and honest in our criticism, we do so with the calm respect we expect of others.

• Try to be open over your point of view, intent and interests when expressing critique: this helps to discuss the different points of view in a constructive way.
• Try phrasing comments as an invitation to explore an issue.

Examples of what to avoid:

• Personal insults.
• Ad-hominem attacks.

We are, fundamentally, a community of people working to share technology with each other. We should be friendly toward each other, and act to support each other's efforts.

Examples of what to avoid

• Impersonation of other people (copying their nickname, avatar, and so on).
• Privacy breaches, including doxxing etc.
• Unwelcome sexual attention.
• Encouraging poor behaviour in others.
• Harrassing others.

As a rule of thumb, if you find yourself dividing the community into an "us" and a "them", you are risking breaking this Code of Conduct.

The examples in this document of what not to do are intended to be just that - examples. They are not intended to be exhaustive. Many of these examples have formal definitions, either in law or elsewhere - in general, if you are reliant on such a definition to argue why your behaviour might be acceptable, you have already lost the argument.

Instead, please try to follow the spirit of this document, perhaps more so than its words.

The first case may seem extremely broad. The intent here is that while good behaviour which might be associated with the XSF and its community reflects well on us, the opposite is also true. By explicitly stating that this Code of Conduct applies this allows the XSF to sanction bad behaviour outside of XSF Activities should the need arise.

Note also that this is not intended to mean that any XMPP developer's behaviour will be scrutinised constantly - using, for example, racist language in a talk about your XMPP project would be problematic here, but using sexualised language in your erotic fiction hobby is likely to be irrelevant to this Code of Conduct.

However, higher standards may be applied to those seen as representative of the community, such as Members and in particular members of Board or Council.

If you witness bad conduct by somebody - that is, if you feel someone's behaviour does not live up to this Code of Conduct - please do express your concern (calmly and gently) to that person at the time, but only if you feel able. This allows the person to recognise their behaviour may be problematic an correct it at the time without undue escalation. If you feel uncomfortable to do so that is perfectly fine and will not affect further handling of the incident.

Whether or not you called it out, do one of the following:

• Let the Conduct Team know.
• Let the Board know.
• Let at least one member of the Board, and preferably more, know.

Who you report it might depend on who was involved in the incident - you may feel that members of the Conduct Team or the Board were involved or present and wish to report to others.

It may also be in some cases people may prefer to report informally; while reporting "properly" is preferred, the Conduct Team should strive to handle informal reports in the same way if possible.

Importantly, even if someone else called it out or said to you they would report it, report it anyway. This ensures the Conduct Team have a clear understanding of what happened and who saw the conduct, and allows the Conduct Team to identify any longer term patterns.

When you report it, include the place, date and time, and report it as calmly as possible.

The Conduct Team will then discuss the incident. This should be done quickly, and in private.

The Conduct Team may ask for further information from you, the person accused of bad conduct, or others who were present.

Finally, the Conduct Team will make a decision on sanctions or other action.

The purpose of a Code of Conduct is to ensure our community is as welcoming and inclusive as possible. Sanctions are by their nature exclusionary, and many Actions are unlikely be to welcoming to those involved. Therefore the Conduct Team must consider how to ensure the Actions they take and the Sanctions they impose resolve the concerns proportionally, balancing the needs of the community with the individuals that form it, with the goal of maximizing inclusion and promoting positive behaviours.

The Conduct team will normally have its authority to make decisions delegated to it by the Board. In some cases the Conduct Team may choose to hand its recommendation on Sanctions or other Actions to the Board even if authority has not been delegated. The Board will discuss and vote on these "in camera" (ie, not in public and not minuted).

Finally, the result will normally be explained to the person accused on bad conduct, and may be explained to the complainant.

Any announcement of Actions or Sanctions is an Action in and of itself, and should be considered carefully. In general terms, any announcement should be proportionate to the bad conduct and the size of the audience which witnessed it. In high profile cases, therefore, the Conduct Team may decide the result will be announced publicly in order to restore trust.

Sanctions may consist of having the ability to participate reduced or removed from some or all XSF Activities. Actions may include discussion with the Conduct Team. These are non-exhaustive.

Many minor incidents will, therefore, not be reported publicly at all, and - even if there is an agreement that bad conduct occurred - may not result in any visible actions at all.

If you disagree with the decision made by the Board and you were either the subject of bad conduct or subject to the actions or sanctions, you may appeal in writing by sending an email to the Board. The Board will consider your argument as written and will normally respond. The Board's decision after appeal is, however, final.