Adding the Mediation Team as Code of Conduct body for staff
Hello everyone, I wanted to bring some attention to [this merge request][0], in order to gather feedback on the contained proposal and to follow the established process for making changes to the code of conduct. The underlying motivation for this request has been that I always felt that we as mediators were elected make sure that everyone keeps enjoying to contribute their free time to the Arch Linux projects and finds themselves in a welcoming and fun environment if they decide to do so. In order to get achieve this we started to take two types of actions: - Reactive: As specified in the [RFC!0009] the mediation team can be queried to settle disputes and newly establish previously lost trust between two parties that clashed over personal or other matters. - Proactive: Whenever people act in a manner that is detrimental to the atmosphere in the project or not constructive to a specific discussion we tried to intervene in order to have everyone be nice to each other again and to allow everyone to focus on the actual issues being discussed. Reflecting on some of the instances where we tried to proactively moderate a discussion we realized in the team that we don't have much options beyond a "hey please don't do that" and for example can't formally warn people if their conduct stays unchanged. This is unless there is a failed mediation (see the RFC for details on that) which in itself is an involved process and requires some other party to request mediation, which is not sensible for all kinds of situations. The resulting proposal therefore is that we as a mediator team assist the project leader for code of conduct related topics concerning Arch Linux staff itself. The process mentioned in the beginning of this mail defines a 14-day discussion period, but given that a lot of people are currently on vacation and might not neccesarily pay attention to their email it's fair to extend this by another week to the 13th January. If you have any feedback this is very much welcome, lets discuss it on the merge request! Cheers, Christian / gromit P.S.: I wish everyone a merry christmas if you celebrate it and a few refreshing days with friends, family and hopefully lots of nice food over new year! [0]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/service-agreements/-/merge_requests/2... [1]: https://rfc.archlinux.page/0009-mediation-program/
On 25/12/23 11:46PM, gromit wrote:
Hello everyone,
Hello everyone, I hope you all had an awesome start into the year of 2026! 🥳🎆 Just a reminder (so that it's not lost in all the new year / christmas festivity chaos) that the proposal linked below has been submitted and is up for discussion until the 14th of January.
[...]
The resulting proposal therefore is that we as a mediator team assist the project leader for code of conduct related topics concerning Arch Linux staff itself.
[...]
[0]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/service-agreements/-/merge_requests/2... [1]: https://rfc.archlinux.page/0009-mediation-program/
Cheers, Chris
On Tue, Dec 23, 2025 at 11:46:21PM +0100, gromit wrote:
Hello everyone,
Yo,
I wanted to bring some attention to [this merge request][0], in order to gather feedback on the contained proposal and to follow the established process for making changes to the code of conduct.
The underlying motivation for this request has been that I always felt that we as mediators were elected make sure that everyone keeps enjoying to contribute their free time to the Arch Linux projects and finds themselves in a welcoming and fun environment if they decide to do so.
I think it's important that people read the original RFC of the Mediation Program. https://rfc.archlinux.page/0009-mediation-program/ My read from the program is that the mediatiors are not community moderators, it's a reactive role and an offer for conflict resolution when requested. This suggestion becomes an additional responsebility of the role, and/or an additional power dynamic.
In order to get achieve this we started to take two types of actions:
- Reactive: As specified in the [RFC!0009] the mediation team can be queried to settle disputes and newly establish previously lost trust between two parties that clashed over personal or other matters.
- Proactive: Whenever people act in a manner that is detrimental to the atmosphere in the project or not constructive to a specific discussion we tried to intervene in order to have everyone be nice to each other again and to allow everyone to focus on the actual issues being discussed.
The "proactive" part of the RFC is not specific for the role though, it's a general expectation towards every contributor. As such I do not read the mediators to be proactive, but an offer to settle disputes when requested. If the mediators feel like they are responsible for community moderation, then we should probably clarify that so people don't feel they are powerless in their role.
Reflecting on some of the instances where we tried to proactively moderate a discussion we realized in the team that we don't have much options beyond a "hey please don't do that" and for example can't formally warn people if their conduct stays unchanged. This is unless there is a failed mediation (see the RFC for details on that) which in itself is an involved process and requires some other party to request mediation, which is not sensible for all kinds of situations.
From my read of the intention of the RFC is that this is expected. If we want to have mediators as community moderators then that is the discussion we should be having, not the addition to the CoC in itself. -- Morten Linderud PGP: 9C02FF419FECBE16
participants (2)
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gromit
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Morten Linderud