Preamble

In the Qt community, participants from all over the world come together to create Free Software. This is made possible by the support, hard work, and enthusiasm of Qt contributors and users.

This document offers some guidance to ensure participants in the Qt Project can cooperate effectively in a positive and inspiring atmosphere. It explains how together we can strengthen and support each other.

This Code of Conduct is shared by all contributors and users who engage with the Qt project and its community services.

Overview

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:

• consideration
• respect
• collaboration
• pragmatism
• mutual support

Those who participate in the Qt project do so in various ways. Most do so in at least one of these roles:

• Contributors add value to the project through improving Qt software and its services.
• Users add value to the project through their support as consumers of Qt software.

This Code of Conduct reflects the agreed standards of behavior for members of the Qt community, in any forum, mailing list, wiki, web site, IRC channel, public meeting or private correspondence within the context of the Qt Project and its services. 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 mailing lists, IRC channels, forums, etc., should exercise the right to suspend access to any person who persistently breaks our shared Code of Conduct.

Be considerate

Your actions and work will affect and be used by other people, while you in turn will depend on the work and actions of others. Any decision you make will impact other community members. We expect you to take those consequences into account.

As a contributor, ensure that you give full credit for the work of others and bear in mind how your contributions affect others. It is also expected that you try to follow the development schedule and guidelines.

As a user, remember that contributors work hard on their part of Qt and take great pride in it. If you are frustrated, try to keep a level head. Your problems are more likely to be resolved if you can give accurate and well-mannered information to all concerned.

Be respectful

In order for the Qt community to stay healthy, its members must feel comfortable and accepted. Treating one another with respect is absolutely necessary for this. In a disagreement, first assume that people mean well.

We do not tolerate personal attacks, racism, sexism, or any other form of discrimination. Disagreement is inevitable but respect for the views of others will go a long way towards winning respect for your own view. Assume others act with good intention. Show that you respect them, their work, and their contributions. This makes our community members feel comfortable and safe. In turn, this fosters motivation and productivity.

We expect members of our community to be respectful when dealing with other contributors, users and communities. Remember that Qt is an international project and that you may be unaware of important aspects of other cultures.

Be collaborative

The Free Software Movement depends on collaboration: it helps limit duplication of effort while improving the quality of the software produced. In order to avoid misunderstanding, be clear and concise when requesting or giving help. Remember, it is easy to misunderstand emails (especially if they are not written in your native language). Ask for clarifications if unsure how something is meant; remember the first rule — assume that people mean well.

As a contributor, you should aim to collaborate with other community members, as well as with other communities that are interested in or depend on the work you do. Your work should be transparent, and submitted to the community as early as possible. This helps the community by providing time to review and collaborate with you on your work, well in time before the next Qt release. If you wish to work on something new in existing projects, keep those projects informed of your ideas and progress.

It may not be possible to reach consensus on the implementation of an idea, so don't feel obliged to achieve this before you begin. However, always ensure that you keep the outside world informed of your work. Publish it in a way that allows the community to test, discuss and contribute to your efforts. Further guidelines for contributing to Qt are given in [2].

As a user, your feedback is important, as is its form. Poorly thought out comments can cause pain and demotivation of other community members. In contrast, considerate discussion of problems can bring positive results. An encouraging word can work wonders.

Be pragmatic

Qt is a pragmatic community. We value tangible results over having the last word in a discussion. We uphold our values and we don't let arguments about minor issues get in the way of achieving results. We are open to suggestions and welcome solutions regardless of their origin. When in doubt, support a solution which helps getting 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.

Support others in the community

Our community is made strong by mutual respect, collaboration and pragmatic, responsible behavior. Sometimes there are situations where these standards have 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. Similarly you should support anyone who appears to be in danger of burning out, either through work-related stress or personal problems.

As a next step when problems arise, consider reminding those involved of our Code of Conduct. 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.

Get support from others in the community

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 to try and resolve differences in a less emotional medium. If you do feel that you or your work is being attacked, take your time to breathe 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. When a disagreement is about a technical matter, publishing a substantial proposal, complete with details, can help to focus the discussion on practical matters and defuse misunderstandings. This is particularly true if the proposal can be tried and tested.

Colophon

This document is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution - Share Alike 3.0 License.

The authors of this document would like to thank the KDE and Qt communities and those who have worked to create such a dynamic environment to share in and who offered their thoughts and wisdom in the development of this document. We would also like to thank other vibrant communities that have helped shape this document with their own examples, such as the Ubuntu community and their Code of Conduct.

References