[Linux-aus] Linux Australia Code of Conduct

[David Lloyd]

L
Well,

On 14/09/2011, at 11:21 AM, Russell Coker wrote:

> On Tue, 13 Sep 2011, John Ferlito <johnf at inodes.org> wrote:
>> Linux Australia events are inclusive events which invite diverse
>> groups of people regardless of age, race, gender, sexuality, or
>> religion - to discuss and learn about all things Free and Open Source
>> in an environment of mutual respect, tolerance and encouragement, in
>> accordance with the Linux Australia statement of values
>> [http://linux.org.au/values]
> 
> Below is the relevant section of the values page.  The difference between the 
> two of them concerns race, nationality, ethnicity, ability, and "background" 
> and "walks of life" (whatever those two may mean).  I think it would be best 
> to have these statements be the same and to not include anything which doesn't 
> have a clear meaning.  Also a generic "and other differences" might be 
> appropriate.  I think that the omission of ability in the above is 
> significant.
> 
> # People of all ages, genders, nationalities, ethnicities, backgrounds,
> # abilities and walks of life are part of the communities we serve. We respect
> # and encourage diversity at our conferences, events, and other activities.

1. My race is unknown but I'm probably genetically Thai or a mixture of Chinese / Thai - all I am certain of is there are no immediate or reasonably distant caucasian ancestors in my genetic make up

2. My nationality is Australian; those who've ever implied that I might be of any other nationality because of my race either get a polite correction or I'll take them to task in a more strong manner

3. My background is from a fairly "straight white Anglo-saxon protestant" - don't make the mistake of looking at me and thinking my outlook is of an Asian nature or you may find that my background has trained me to be argumentative, in your face and somewhat fierce

4. However, in life I've walked a very different path to many of my background; sometimes my walk in life and of life is an enigma even to me

Race and nationality are not the same. They often are but they're too different things. I see background as one's walk of life in the past and one's walk of life as where one is at the moment.

DSl