The Ghosts of Lain: Code of Conduct

The Ghosts of Lain project aims to be enjoyable for anyone to participate in, regardless of their identity or level of expertise. To achieve this, the community must create an environment which is safe and equitable; the following guidelines have been created with these goals in mind.

1. This is not a professional space. Individuality is not only welcome, but encouraged. Professionalism asks marginalized individuals to censor themselves, and perform their identity in an inauthentic, unchallenging manner, which caters solely to those in power (namely rich, white, cisgender, heterosexual men). Seeking professionalism is antithetical to the goal of equity, and thus, these guidelines reject it.
   • Attempting to suppress self-expression or non-harmful speech is not acceptable for any reason.
   • There will be queers, punks, femboys, drag queens, furries, hackers, kinksters, and all sorts of other people here. And the project will reflect that. If you don't like this, consider looking elsewhere.
2. Treat individuals with respect. Differing experiences and viewpoints deserve to be respected, and bigotry and harassment are not tolerated under any circumstances.
   • Individuals should never be made to feel unsafe or unvalued due to their age, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability, religion, appearance, education, level of expertise, or other factors.
   • Behavior that is harmful in nature should be addressed and corrected regardless of intent.
   • Respect personal boundaries and ask for clarification whenever they are unclear.
   • (Obviously, hate does not count as merely a "differing viewpoint", because it is harmful in nature.
3. Be understanding of differences in communication. Not everyone is aware of unspoken social cues, and speech that is not intended to be offensive should not be treated as such simply due to an atypical manner of communication.
   • Somebody who speaks bluntly is not necessarily rude, and somebody who swears a lot is not necessarily volatile.
   • Try to confirm your interpretation of their intent rather than assuming bad faith.
4. "Uncomfortable" does not mean "unsafe". In an ideal world, the community would be safe, equitable, enjoyable, *and* comfortable for all members at all times. Unfortunately, this is not always possible in reality.
   • Safety and equity will be prioritized over comfort whenever it is necessary to do so.
   • Weaponizing one's own discomfort to deflect accountability or censor an individual (e.g. "white fragility") is a form of discriminatory conduct.
5. Let people grow from their mistakes. Nobody is perfect; even the most well-meaning individual can do something hurtful. Everyone should be given a fair opportunity to explain themselves and correct their behavior. Portraying someone as inherently malicious without reasonable and clear evidence prevents improvement and shifts focus away from the *action* that was problematic.
   • Avoid bringing up past events that do not accurately reflect an individual's current actions or beliefs. (This is, of course, different from providing evidence of a recurring pattern of behavior.)
6. AI-Generated Content: Posting AI-generated content (as in, came from an LLM or similar) is highly discouraged, and posting it frequently is not allowed. If for some reason you feel the need to post something that has been AI-generated, please clearly indicate that it was generated by AI, and then consider what you're doing with your life.

This document was created by ~keith as part of its default repository template, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0. It has been modified by Remilia Scarlet to act as a general code of conduct for the Ghosts of Lain hacker collective. The original template is here.