Code of Conduct

Definitions

1. A document establishing expected behavior standards for participants in an open-source project or community. The Contributor Covenant (2014) became the most widely adopted template. Their existence is both important and controversial.

   In plain English: A set of rules for how people should treat each other in an open-source project — like the house rules for a community.

2. Enforcement is where codes of conduct succeed or fail. A document without clear reporting procedures, designated enforcers, and defined consequences is performative. The best CoCs include specific examples of unacceptable behavior and a transparent enforcement process.

   Example: 'We adopted the Contributor Covenant but the real work was setting up the enforcement committee, the reporting form, and the escalation process.'

   Source: enforcement perspective

Related Terms

• Pull Request
• Contributor
• Merge Conflict
• Linux Foundation
• Open Governance
• Outreachy
• Project Governance
• The Apache Way
• WG
• Contributor License Agreement
• Open Container Initiative
• Code of Conduct Standard