Challenging bad behavior

I have been working with Open Source communities for almost 15 years, and I have been working as a community manager for the past 10 of those years. During this time, I have been touched by many wonderful, giving, and selfless people who take time away from their families and friends to create Free Software for others to use. This generosity and collaboration has fueled my own passion for community and optimizing how we grow and foster great communities.

Unfortunately, every coin has two sides, and the other side of this fantastic generosity and selflessness are some people who are disrespectful, mean, and rude to others. We see this in many different communities, inside and outside the Free Software community.

This negativity tends to manifest in two forms. First, a decision or announcement in a project will spark a flurry of blog posts and angry comment threads, and the press will often pick up on this and report on the controversy. Second, people are mean and disrespectful on a one-on-one basis when commenting on an individual or their contributions. Regardless of how this happens, it all boils down to the conduct that is exhibited during discussion and commentary.

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