Code of Conduct

Overview

This Code of Conduct presents a vision of the shared values and thinking in the VideoLAN community.

In short:

• Be considerate and respectful
• Be collaborative
• Be pragmatic and concise
• Ask if you don't know, share if you know
• Be inclusive
• Be patient

Be considerate and respectful

VideoLAN has millions of users and hundreds of contributors. What you do and contribute will impact the life of others. Think about it.

There is absolutely no excuse for personal attacks, racism, sexism or any other form of discrimination based on religion, politics, Linux distribution, Operating System or else.

In a disagreement, in the first instance assume that people mean well. A community where people feel comfortable is a productive one.

Means of communications

Valid for all means of communications:

• Do not use foul language.
• Try not to flame; it is not polite.
• Use common sense all the time.

Mailing lists

When using the VideoLAN mailing lists, please follow these rules:

• The mailing lists exist to foster the development and use of VideoLAN. Non-constructive or off-topic messages, along with other abuses, are not welcome.
• Do not send spam.
• Send all of your e-mails in English. Only use other languages on mailing lists where that is explicitly allowed (e.g. French on debian-user-french).
• Make sure that you are using the proper list. In particular, don't send user-related questions to developer-related mailing lists.
• Wrap your lines at 80 characters or less for ordinary discussion. Lines longer than 80 characters are acceptable for computer-generated output (e.g., ls -l).
• Do not top-post, unless it makes sense.
• Never send your messages in HTML-only; use plain text instead.
• Avoid sending large attachments. Attachments over 65k are usually moderated.
• Do not send automated "out-of-office" or "vacation" messages.
• Do not send "test" messages to determine whether your mail client is working. We have a test mailing list for that.
• Do not send subscription or unsubscription requests to the list address itself; use the respective -request address instead.
• Do not quote messages that were sent to you by other people in private mail, unless agreed beforehand.
• When replying to messages on the mailing list, do not send a carbon copy (CC) to the original poster unless they explicitly request to be copied.
• If you want to complain to someone, do it privately.
• If you send messages to lists to which you are not subscribed, always note that fact in the body of your message.

IRC

When using the VideoLAN IRC channels, please follow these rules:

• Speak in English.
• Never send your messages in colors; use plain text instead.
• Do not send spam links.
• Do not send "test" messages to determine whether your IRC client is working. We have a #test channel for that.
• If you want to complain to someone, do it privately.
• Do not quote messages that were sent to you by other people in private query, unless agreed beforehand.