Communication guidelines

Communication is one of the most important tool in any contributor’s toolbox. The Free & Open Source Software communities grew over the years, and now we have various mediums to communicate over Internet. People are spread across the world in different time zones, the cultures and primary languages are different among us.

Be nice to everyone

The most important point to start this guide, always be nice to everyone over Internet. Do not use any improper words, or attack people. Everyone has their own view point, and own opinion. That may not be the same of yours, but that should not be the reason to start a heated argument over chat/meeting/mailing list. People are opinionated, to solve some complex problem people will try to force their ideas to everyone. But, the language should always remain civil.

Do not assume pronouns of people

Do not try to assume which pronoun to use while talking to someone. It is much nicer if you use gender neutral words (or the names) in any type of communication. This guide has more details which one should read.

Different mediums of online communication

  • Direct emails
  • Mailing lists
  • Chatting applications (IRC, Gitter, Google Chat, Slack)

This session from Shakthi Kannan has more details about how to communicate. Please go through it next.