[Linux-aus] Linux Australia Code of Conduct - revised draft

[Russell Coker]

On Sun, 27 Nov 2011, Paul Shirren <shirro at shirro.com> wrote:
> Having a point about "exclusionary humour of any kind" is going too far 
> for me. Obviously jokes can be very nasty and not in the spirit of the 
> event. But the key to me is spirit of the event. I wouldn't like to see 
> a speaker or attendee cautioned or ejected for a t-shirt like 
> http://store.xkcd.com/xkcd/#Science which has the potentially 
> exclusionary sexist word "bitches". This would be like kicking someone 
> out of church for quoting the bible. "Exclusionary humour of any kind" 
> doesn't leave much wiggle room and is a little scary.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/humor-sapiens/201107/does-racist-humor-
promote-racism

The above blog post provides a good case for restricting the humor that is 
acceptable.

The problem with humor is that it's very subjective.  Restrictions on humor 
can't be enforced by a computer they need human interpretation.  But like a 
lot of this it comes down to the judgement of the conference organisers who 
will assess the situation.

As these discussions have continued over the last year (and for more than a 
year in other places) it has constantly surprised me that the opposition to 
various procedures for dealing with harassment etc has never focussed on how 
to achieve a fair trial.

Surely the solution to problems of interpretation would involve giving the 
defendant the right to an advocate, time to prepare a defense, and a panel of 
judges adjudicating the matter.

The impression I have received from all past discussions is that if an 
accusation was made the defendant would be put on trial with a very small 
number of people adjudicating (maybe only one person), no representation, and 
no prior notice of the accusation.  This concerns me a lot more than the 
possibility of censure for a joke.

-- 
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