LoudmouthmanPlease turn off the lights if you are the last to leave.
So here we are, several days later, and the last item on the Ubuntu Code of Conduct and most appropriately it relates to how you exit from a project or group.
Step down considerately
Developers on every project come and go and Ubuntu is no different. 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.
Until this posting I would say I have no experience of seeing or hearing about a project which requires handing off. Although as I type I am reminded of the ezPDF lib project which I have applied to manage and had no response to. Clearly if they had planned on how to exit from the project then I would be able to contact the current maintainers. With so many great ideas produced it is easy to believe that many projects will lie fallow and unclaimed do to the lack of interest or the difficulty in accessing the relevant source code and websites.
Linux User Groups certainly suffer from this since Lugmasters come and go but mechanisms to ensure smooth transition require foresight and agreement. More than ever it is as important to consider how an idea will be handled and developed, as it will to consider how well it will be accepted. I imagine also that concerns over appropriate licensing for now and the future will have an impact on how a developer, maintainer or member will manage their own exit from the project. Its hard enough to launch a new idea, or a amendment to an existing one, within our community harder still is ensuring a smooth transition of a good idea from one person to the next and I commend the Ubuntu Code of Conduct for putting this requirement into terms which should bring it to the mind of those involved.
So there we go , the various points of the Code of Conduct discussed as they relate to me. My next blog post will cover signing and agreeing to the conduct.
Thanks for reading.
For a couple of years, I ran an OpenSource project (cross-platform) with a floating population of between half a dozen and a dozen active participants.
There was a LONG period when I wanted to leave, but couldn’t hand over neatly, because everyone liked their own bits too much, and no-one wanted to do the “boring stuff”, you know, like marketing and presentations, and documentation.
Kudos to Ubuntu for recognising that people come and go and that a “leaving protocol” is as important as a joining one.