LCA code of conduct: devil is in the detail

Sam Varghese
Friday, 13 January 2012 11:50

Opinion and Analysis

At the 13th Australian national Linux conference that begins in Ballarat on Monday, all presentation material has to be suitable for people aged 12 and above.

This stipulation has little to do with the organisers themselves; it is part of the code of conduct drafted by Linux Australia, under whose auspices the LCA is held. Linux Australia also sponsors a Drupal conference, a Python conference and offers its patronage to the AdaCamp.

One has to be thankful that this stipulation was not in force at the last LCA in Brisbane, else Geoff Huston, the entertaining chief scientist from the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, would have been banned. Huston delivered what I rate as the second best of the four keynotes, liberally sprinkled with four-letter words.

Brisbane was also the venue for Mark Pesce's keynote which was the best of the four; unfortunately, Pesce fell foul of the organisers later on as some participants complained about sexual images he had used, which offended their sensibilities.

Pesce had to apologise, and it is unlikely that he will ever be back for any Linux Australia events. Incidentally, before he began his keynote, he warned the audience that he would use profanity and images that were not suitable for children.

FOSS events, these days, seem to be making news for things like this, rather than their content. At the Australian Python conference, PyCon 2011, held in August, there were two instances where its code of conduct was violated but details are unlikely to be  known; I asked, but silence has followed.

But in the presence of such detailed codes of conduct one has to ask: is this getting a little too structured, is this a little too much of trying to play the politician's game of legislating for everything?

There are many in the FOSS community who feel this way but few give vent to their opinions for fear of being dubbed as being anti-this or anti-that.