GDB is a Free Software project, part of the GNU Project. Like other Free Software projects, GDB and its community are made up of professionals, volunteers, and users from all over the world. This diversity is a definite strength of GDB and its community, but it also presents some unique challenges, and can sometimes lead to mis-communications, misunderstandings, and (hopefully, rarely) to frustration and unhappiness. This code presents some ground rules of conduct that we ask everyone -- leaders of the project, its developers and maintainers, its users, and those who seek help and guidance in its use -- to adhere to while they participate in activities and discussions related to GDB. The code applies to all the types of media where we discuss GDB, its development, maintenance, and use, including the GDB mailing lists and IRC channels, the GDB issue tracker, and any other GDB-related forums.

Here are the rules that we ask everyone to observe:

• Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants of discussions. Avoid any language or behavior that could be interpreted as harassment. In general, if someone asks you to stop doing or saying something as part of a discussion, then stop and find alternative words or means of making your point.
• Be welcoming. We strive to be a community that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. This includes, but is not limited to, members of any race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, color, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political beliefs, religion, and mental or physical ability.
• Be considerate. Think carefully about your words before you publish them. Think about possible consequences of misunderstanding ambiguous words, and replace them in advance with better, clearer ones.
• Be friendly and patient when communicating with others. Always assume the other participants in a discussion are likely to speak up in good-faith, even if they disagree with you. Remember that most people here write in a language that is not their first one, so in many cases misunderstandings or unfortunate choice of words can easily be explained by that and not by ill will or hostility.
• Be respectful to participants in discussions and other members of the community, even if you are arguing with them. Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behavior and poor manners. Try to understand the causes for the disagreement, and convince rather than suppress dissenting opinions. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively; doing so will more often than not result in superior decisions and courses of action, as it draws on the varied backgrounds and different perspectives each one of us has on the issues at hand.

The above isn't an exhaustive list; rather, take it in its spirit, as guidelines intended to make the GDB project as welcoming as possible to everyone who wants to participate and contribute, and to allow everyone to speak up freely in the interests of developing GDB and making our community broader and better.

See the GNU Kind Communications Guidelines for more guidance on constructive interactions.

People who violate this code of conduct should be made aware of their misconduct. In many cases, but not always, this will happen in the same forum where the problematic behavior happened: usually, one or more members of the GDB community will react to any such violation. If that doesn't happen, don't hesitate to speak up and explain why some behavior hurts you or might hurt someone else.

Alternatively, you can write to the code of conduct committee at gdb-conduct@sourceware.org, and report the behavior you think is in violation of this code. Please read the reporting guide before reporting.

However the violation is brought to the attention of the code of conduct committee, one or more of them will then decide how best to handle each such situation. Some ways in which they may respond include:

• Explaining to the individual(s) who violated the CoC, either in public or in private email, which part of their conduct is unacceptable and why;
• Requesting, repeatedly if needed, that the problematic behavior be stopped, and asking to post an apology if deemed appropriate;
• In extreme cases, moderating or blocking the messages of person(s) who violated the CoC, when repeated requests to refrain from unacceptable behavior don't help.

Alternatively, the code of conduct committee might decide that the behavior is not in violation of the CoC, in which case they will work with the person who reported it to explain why they believe so.

The decision how to handle each potential violation, which of these and other measures to take and in what order, is up to the code of conduct committee, based on any input provided by members of the community (which is always welcome), and also based on the committee's best judgement of what are the most appropriate actions in each case. We call upon the community to accept the decisions of the code of conduct committee in each such case and not try to force them to respond to such incidents in other ways.

Code Of Conduct Committee

Details of who is currently on the Code of Conduct committee can be found here.

Further Questions?

If you have questions, please feel free to contact the committee on the above email address, or ask on the GDB mailing list at gdb@sourceware.org.