Category blog

Details: Written by Michael Russell; Published: 16 February 2020; Hits: 22

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.United States Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776

I used to enjoy writing. I used to enjoy spending time researching information to help me form a view and express it in writing. I used to enjoy the respectful way in which people, from all walks of life, could engage in discussion and debate. Even if the discussion and debate did not resolve a question, I felt better for knowing the “other side”.

I used to enjoy spending my day looking for answers—technical, ethical, political, societal or philosophical answers—to questions. I used to enjoy these things.

Recent events have destroyed that enjoyment and extinguished any remaining spark I may have had for engaging in such discussions. As depressing as this sounds, it is depressing.

I used to help with answering questions at the Joomla! Forum™. I used to provide feedback about the Joomla! Project on the Joomla! Forum, in GitHub discussions and at the various conferences I have attended; I used to write articles for the Joomla! Community Magazine; for a time, I was active within a locally-based Joomla Users Group and I have given presentations about Joomla! at other JUGs. I used to do these things; I used to enjoy doing these things.

I created this website as an opportunity for people to express a range of opinions about the Joomla! Project, generally, and the Joomla Forum, in particular. I made every reasonable effort to ensure that people involved in these activities would be safeguarded and protected against retribution from outsiders who can’t understand these basic principles an freedoms. Although it is not always possible to insure against the way(s) in which the expression of one’s thoughts will be interpreted, I have always tried my best to stick to the facts, address the issues—address the behaviour of other people—but to refrain from attacking someone else’s character. Sometimes you get it about right and sometimes you don’t.

Details: Written by Michael Russell; Published: 16 January 2020; Hits: 99

Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.Charles Addams (cartoonist)

This is one of the most difficult articles I have written, for many reasons, but it is an important one to examine the wide-ranging implications of the Joomla! Code of Conduct.

In case you have not heard of the Joomla! Code of Conduct [J!CoC] document, this is the opening paragraph:

This document outlines the Code of Conduct for all persons volunteering their service to the Joomla Project and/or Open Source Matters. It covers your behaviour as a member of the Joomla community, in any forum, mailing list, Wiki, Web site, IRC channel, install-fest, public meeting or private correspondence.Joomla! Code of Conduct, 3-Aug-2018

The J!CoC goes on to address the obligations of people to

be considerate
be respectful
be collaborative
“step down considerately” [when your involvement with the Joomla! project comes to an end]
be contactable

be honest
follow the “rules”
exercise discretion and confidentiality at appropriate times
disclose any potential “conflict of interest”
… and a couple of other matters that relate more specifically to the Board of Directors, Open Source Matters [OSM]

There are no specific sanctions—that I can see—if people don’t comply with the J!CoC, except “If you cannot agree to any of these principles, then volunteering in the Joomla! Project is not for you.”

What does all of this mean for you and me? Read more to find out.

Read more: The Joomla! Code of Conduct

Discussion: The Joomla! Code of Conduct

sozzled commented: #102 06 Feb 2020 15:21

Thank you for your comment. As I have written elsewhere on this website, I generally avoid commenting on comments written by others in connection with articles I have authored. This is the place to have your say and not a place for me to editorialise on those comments whether I agree or disagree with them. On this specific occasion I need to exercise even more restraint. The matter raised in this article derives, in part, from an article written by me and published on this website last November. That matter has been escalated—not by me, I should point out—to the Conflict Resolution Team who are making recommendations (including the possibility of sanctions) to the OSM Board of Directors. That is as far as I'm prepared to discuss at this time.

webilicious commented: #101 06 Feb 2020 14:26

Hi Michael,

Your "Harassment at the Joomla! forum" blog post looked pretty constructive and respectful to me. I humbly suggest that whoever is taking this personally maybe needs to have a look at their own behaviour as there may be an opportunity for personal growth. In terms of the code of conduct, I think your critic needs to be more specific if they are trying to have a constructive conversation rather than just censor what you have written. If a respectful discussion on such topics is no longer possible on the Joomla forum, then really, the Joomla forum moderators probably need to be addressing that rather harassing people outside the Joomla forums.

Details: Written by Michael Russell; Published: 29 December 2019; Hits: 121

opinion

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.Vidal Sassoon (businessman, philanthropist, hair stylist)

As you know, I began this campaign to transform the Joomla! forum (among other things) in response to some challenges thrown up by people who love to talk the talk but are incapable of walking the walk. If you've read my article entitled Before the dawn of the beginning then you will have a sense of these challenges and of the characters behind them. I had hoped that by the end of the year [2019] I would have been able to have donated the “profits” generated from this website to the Joomla! project but, after three months, I haven’t been able to scrape together five dollars. So much for the “millions” of dollars fancifully estimated to come from various crowdfunding efforts, we haven’t managed a downpayment on a cup of coffee at an Open Source Matters committee meeting.

We have collected a few useful ideas that could be implemented at the Joomla! forum if the forum management team had the will to try to make improvements. Over the course of the last twelve months we've seen the gradual erosion of effective forum management and it has been left to a few—dare I say, overworked—volunteers who struggle against huge odds to run the forum efficiently and effectively. There are fewer active forum moderators available now, at the end of 2019, that we saw at the beginning.

Forum spam is increasing; there has been a rise in the number of new account registrations at the Joomla! forum that are used only to litter the premises with rubbish.

The beginning of the end

The Joomla! Code of Conduct

JAFFAAS—the year in review