Mambo Developer

Code of Conduct

The Mambo Community is made up of people from all over the world who come together to create free, open source software for all to use.

We work together as volunteer contributors in a spirit of sharing and co-operation. The Mambo Community is, however, about more than just writing software. We are guardians of the Mambo code and are building on the work that was freely contributed by hundreds of volunteers over the past six years. Members of the Mambo community need to work together effectively so we have developed this Code of Conduct as a guide to how we will behave towards each other in any community communications.

This Code of Conduct covers your behaviour as a member of the Mambo Community, in any inter-community communications and discussions, including on the Mambo forum, mailing lists, web sites, IRC channel, PM's, and personal correspondence. Although the community is very good at self-regulation and we do not anticipate any intervention will be needed, should problems occur, the Community Relations Team will arbitrate in any dispute over the conduct of a member of the community.

Be considerate & polite.

Everyone can make a valuable contribution to Mambo and every contribution is worthy of respect. We may not always agree with each other, but disagreement with a particular point of view is no excuse for bad manners or poor behaviour. A friendly, polite community where consideration is given to every member of the community makes for a community where people feel comfortable and welcome.

Collaborate respectfully.

Mambo is developed in the spirit of sharing and co-operation. We aim to collaborate in such a way that our work is done transparently and our colleagues are kept informed of progress. Our work depends on the work of others and also affects other people's work and any decisions we make must take this into account.

Resolve differences constructively.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but a difference in opinion should never become a personal attack. Strong opinions and frustration is normal in any large project. Sometimes disagreements result from miscommunication. We will remember that many of the members of the Mambo Community are communicating in a language that is not their first language and that language and cultural differences in expressing our ideas may need further explanation. We will respect other's opinions and will seek to resolve differences in a friendly, co-operative manner. We can call upon each other for advice and if a disagreement becomes a problem, we will seek the advice of our team leaders or the Community Relations team leader.

Keep your Team Leaders informed.

Becoming part of the team brings responsibilities. We are all volunteers who give freely of our time when we can and competing obligations in our lives will impact on the time we have available for working on Mambo. It is our responsibility to ensure that our Team Leaders know when we are available and what we are working on.

Staying Active.

For a member of a team to be considered an active member requires contributions to the work being undertaken by the team of which the person is a member. Team members must make contributions to the work of their team, not just posts in the public forums. Should a team member not contribute for a period of six (6) weeks without having advised their Team Leader, Team Leaders will notify the Community Relations Team. The Community Relations Team will contact that team member by email to their current email address to ascertain whether the lack of activity is temporary or ongoing. Should the team member fail to respond to two (2) emails, sent a week apart, or fail to resume activity, then two (2) calendar months of inactivity will see that team member removed from the list of active members. Team members who have been removed from their team are free to apply to rejoin at any time.

Step down considerately.

Mambo, in common with every open source project, has team members that come and go. When you leave or disengage from the project, in whole or in part, we ask that you do so in a way that minimises disruption to the project. This means you should tell people you are leaving and take the proper steps to ensure that others can pick up where you leave off.

People usually have good intentions and generally understand what makes up good behaviour, without any need for a Code of Conduct. Sometimes people simply forget to be polite, considerate or respectful. Sometimes something happens in our personal lives that cause us to forget to keep our Team Leaders informed that we may be away for awhile. This does not mean that the person concerned should be set aside from our community. However, if a member of the Mambo Community is repeatedly disruptive to the community the decision on whether to allow that person to retain their membership of the Mambo Community will be made by the Community Relations team in consultation with the MSC.

The Mambo Code of Conduct was prepared by Team Mambo and adopted by the Mambo Foundation in March, 2007.