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Signed-off-by: Christophe de Dinechin <christophe@dinechin.org>
311 lines
14 KiB
Text
311 lines
14 KiB
Text
THE FREEDOM COVENANT
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Version 1.06, March 30, 2021
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Free Software is all about freedom. This freedom, as Richard Stallman repeatedly
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pointed out, is not about "free beer", but about "free speech". In other words,
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the freedom of free software corresponds not to the French word "gratuit", but
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to a much nobler word, "Liberté", the first of the three pillars of the French
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motto, "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité".
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Freedom has always been under attack, and this goes way beyond Free Software.
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The natural tendency of human beings is to grab power, and achieving that
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objective very often requires, in the mind of the power grabber, the restriction
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of freedom of others. From shrink-wrap licenses to dictatorial regimes, the same
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principle applies in a continuum: restricting someone's freedom to gain power.
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This friction between the liberties of different individuals is where most
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conflicts come from.
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This desire to restrict the freedom of others also lives deep within each of us.
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It takes courageous individuals to go against that innate desire for power and
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truly defend freedom. Courage is required because accepting the freedom for
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others often requires a deliberate and conscious restraint of one's own.
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In addition to courage, defending freedom could use tools and methods, because
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our daily routine makes it easy to overlook admirable core principles.
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Our words and our deeds rarely align. Doing is harder than wishing.
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This is the reason for this covenant, which anyone can freely adopt as a
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reminder of what it takes to truly respect the freedom of others.
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Here are the guiding principles of this covenant:
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0. Act out of love
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1. Speak the truth
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2. Share your facts
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3. Mind your feelings
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4. Keep your opinions
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5. Forgive and apologize
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6. Discuss
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7. Contribute and be thankful
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8. Provide friendly feedback
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9. Act out of love
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By publicly adhering to this covenant, or any variant thereof that suits your
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personal taste better, you simply state that these principles are in line with
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how you want to act, and you encourage others to gently remind you of these
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principles should you violate them.
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END OF THE FREEDOM COVENANT
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USAGE
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If you agree with this covenant, simply share it along, for example by putting
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it in your repositories, on your web sites or linking to it in your signature.
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If you disagree with part or all of the wording, feel free to adapt it to your
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preference or even write your own freedom covenant.
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Should you make alterations to this text that you think are valuable to others,
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please share them back through the repositories below. I will do my best to
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integrate the changes that I personally like (which includes any correction to
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spelling or grammar), and to record changes I dislike as publicly visible git
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branches in the repository so that others can choose them at their preference.
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https://github.com/c3d/freedom-covenant
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https://gitlab.com/c3d/freedom-covenant
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Free Software projects are encouraged to adopt this covenant as a guideline,
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with the full understanding that adhering to such a covenant can only be a
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personal and free decision, and should never be required from anyone.
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This covenant is specifically not written as an enforceable code of conduct.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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DISCUSSION
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Here is a more in-depth discussion of the meaning of the principles outlined
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above, highlighting how and why they relate to freedom.
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0. Act out of love
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The best contributors to Free Software are often very passionate individuals,
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who can talk about their projects for hours, and more if beer is involved.
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This passion can be harnessed in a positive way, but it can also easily lead
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down a destructive path, including anger or hatred.
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Love, whether for individuals or for the projects or products you work on, is
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the best remedy against such negative passions. By loving others, you can fully
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enjoy their freedom, and be happy with them when they exercise it.
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When individuals you love do something that you disagree with, acting out of
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love will ensure that you seek a resolution that is in their best interest,
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instead of attempting to gain control over them and restrain their freedom.
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Even in the worst case, we should seek to act towards one another like a parent
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teaching a misbehaving kid more than like a cop putting a criminal in jail.
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1. Speak the truth
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Freedom applies to yourself, and that includes your right to say what you
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believe to be true, irrespective of what others may think about it.
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If you are in a position where you cannot say what you truly believe, your
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liberty has already been infringed upon. It is already way past time to find the
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courage to speak up. Be ready for the consequences, because those who reveal
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inconvenient truths are not welcome by those who need silence to preserve
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their own power. This is one of the prices to pay for freedom.
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Like all others, this principle is subject to principle 0. You may choose to
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refrain from stating things that you believe to be true, simply because they may
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cause harm to others. You need to carefully balance the need for openness and
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transparency with the right to privacy or beliefs.
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Be mindful that you don't own the objective truth. You can at best state what
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you sincerely believe is true. As a result, you need to fully accept that
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others, following the same guiding principle, may still end up with a different
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or even opposite belief. Speaking the truth requires remaining open to the truth
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at all times, and therefore being ready to change your mind.
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The right to shout "fire" in a crowded theater is often cited as an example of
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limit to free speech. But if there is a fire, you should feel obligated to shout
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"fire" even if this may cause a panic and other harm.
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2. Share your facts
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True freedom depends on accurate information. Nobody can make an informed
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decision without having correct data.
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Therefore, your respect for the freedom of others requires that you share any
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fact you have that is relevant to their own decision making. This sharing
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should include not just the conclusions, but also ways for others to verify your
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facts, such as sources, tools or methods.
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To understand how this relates to freedom, imagine that you get run over by a
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bus. Do others around you still have a way to make progress without you? If not,
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would it be because you held onto a parcel of personal power? Deliberately
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holding to information may grant you a little bit of power, but it comes at the
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expense of the freedom of others.
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3. Mind your feelings
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We all have feelings, and they may be overwhelming. Unlike facts, however,
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feelings are difficult to share and communicate, and they are often not directly
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relevant or applicable to others.
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As a result, there are two equally bad ways to deal with feelings: bottling them
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up, or treating them as universal facts.
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Bottling feelings up is bad, because it will lead you to behaviors that will
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appear erratic or hard to understand to others. In doing so, you deprive them of
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facts that are actually relevant in their interaction with you.
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On the other hand, your feelings are not universally acceptable facts. They are
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personal emotions that others may not feel at all. This includes feelings such
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as outrage, pride, joy or love.
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It is perfectly OK to share that you are outraged by someone's actions, but it
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is not acceptable to demand that everyone be outraged the same way, just as it
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is ridiculous to assume that everyone loves chocolate simply because you do.
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4. Keep your opinions
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Like feelings, opinions are personal. Like feelings, they can be shared, but
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they will not be universally accepted.
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If you have trouble distinguishing facts from opinions, a good rule of thumb is
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that opinions are ideas others can disagree with. The vast majority of what we
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often incorrectly treat as facts are, in reality, mere opinions. This includes
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all the statements in this document, which represent only the opinions of its
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author.
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Freedom includes the freedom of opinion. This means that you can keep your
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opinion and do not have to subject it to any kind of majority rule. Dissenting
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opinions are what fuel progress in science. Of course, try to be as informed as
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possible in your opinions, but remain aware of what you don't know.
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Treat your opinions and the opinions of others with the same respect. If you
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cannot hear a dissenting viewpoint without feeling uncomfortable, work on
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yourself before trying to change other people's minds -- if only because the
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chances that you can change yourself are somewhat higher.
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Try to acknowledge disagreement in a way that maintains the dialogue open.
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It may be better to use a phrase like "I learned something today" than a phrase
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like "let's agree to disagree", if and when the latter can be misinterpreted
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as "end of discussion".
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5. Forgive and apologize
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We all make mistakes. What makes a difference is how we deal with them.
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Even without any ill-will or deliberate intent, we may cause harm. Apologies
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help soothe bad feelings, irrespective of any objective fault. I am often not
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the best person to judge if someone else was harmed by what I did, so I'd better
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be cautious and conservative about it. Feel free to apologize even if you truly
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believe you did nothing wrong.
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The necessary counterpart to apologies is true forgiveness. Forgiveness is not
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about forgetting problems, but about putting them behind us. Since we are
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creatures of habit, we often repeat our mistakes, so we often need to forgive
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the same person multiple times for the same offense. This is a mark of true
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courage and strength.
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Apologies and forgiveness restore our freedom. They allow us to return to a
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normal train of thought that is not obsessed with the harm done.
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6. Discuss
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We are social creatures, and we cannot truly be free if we are isolated.
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To make any progress together, we need a constant exchange of ideas, an ongoing
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discussion. Interrupted dialogue is often the first sign of something going
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wrong.
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The style of the discussion is something that is extremely personal. Individuals
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who are closer to one another will often speed up the discussion by using more
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direct language than they would with more distant third parties.
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On our modern electronic communication channels, this often leads to incorrect
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interpretation of the "tone" of the discussion, because the person who wrote had
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one particular person in mind, but the message is read personally by all
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others. This has been the source of many misinterpretations.
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This is why it is extremely important to remember the earlier principles during
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any discussion, and notably to be able to separate facts, feelings and opinions,
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as well as to express quick apologies and forgiveness.
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Debate ideas, not people. Criticizing or rejecting an idea is generally accepted
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whereas criticizing or rejecting a person is generally more problematic, and can
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even lead to violence or hatred.
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A good discussion increases the level of love, trust and respect between
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participants. This is the true measure of success.
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7. Contribute and be thankful
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An often under-appreciated aspect of Free Software is the freedom to contribute.
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Yet this freedom is the primary reason for the success of the movement.
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Free Software is an incredible gift, that now powers many aspects of our lives.
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We need to be thankful for all the amazing contributors who dedicate time and
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talent to this collective endeavour.
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One way to be thankful is to improve on the existing work, and to add your own
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personal piece to it. Free Software is that place where even correcting someone
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else's mistake is seen as a true mark of appreciation and respect. This constant
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feedback loop is what makes Free Software so good. Anyone willing is welcome to
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contribute. Nobody needs anyone else's permission to get started.
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This does not just apply to code, but to the community as well. Discussion,
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debate and even sharp criticism are essential to achieving true freedom.
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In particular, criticism of problematic individual behaviors is necessary, and
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happens regularly. However, our love for the code and for the contributors means
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that our objective should always be improvement, not destruction.
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8. Provide friendly feedback
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Nothing we do is ever perfect, and Free Software is no exception. Bad code, bad
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processes or bad behaviors are inevitable, and we continuously seek to redress
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such situations. Good code, good processes and good behaviors are much harder to
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achieve. They require a lot of effort, and require ongoing motivation and
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continuous engagement.
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Therefore, praise liberally and publicly, show appreciation whenever you can.
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A mere "thank you" goes a long way towards making someone have a nice day.
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Showing sincere signs of appreciation is the most efficient guide to greatness.
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Conversely, show restraint and moderation in your negative judgments.
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Having a negative opinion of a piece of code or of an individual is part of your
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fundamental freedom. But it is rarely productive to express it aloud.
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Complaining publicly that some code is a piece of crap never fixed a bug.
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Privately holding that opinion, on the other hand, may be a powerful motivator
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to fix that sad piece of utter junk obviously written by a drunk monkey - Oh,
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wait, that was me!
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Should a need arise for some kind of more serious corrective action, try to do
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so in a way that respects the individual freedoms of everyone at hand. Remain
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friendly, and always seek a positive resolution.
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Start with friendly, private feedback, stating as clearly as possible the
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problem that you see and the most important improvement that you have in mind.
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If that fails, consider bringing a small group of individuals to discuss the
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problem. If you need to resort to a vote or similar arbitration mechanism to
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resolve a conflict, be ready to accept an outcome that does not go your way.
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Coercive actions, public threats, insults or collective retaliation are almost
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never justified nor justifiable, because they infringe on the basic freedom of
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the targets of the action. Irrespective of who is involved, such actions run
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directly counter to the most fundamental value of Free Software, freedom.
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It is always more difficult to discuss, convince and forgive than to silence,
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coerce and punish. However, it remains the right thing to do, because this is
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the only approach that truly respects individual freedoms.
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9. Act out of love
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This brings us back full circle.
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Acting out of love brings the best in us as well as in the community.
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