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Seanpm2001 Code of Conduct

Draft 21 : 2025, July 10th

Only the latest verified version of the code of conduct is followed. A version must be verified for at least 1 week before it is valid.

Versions (version history)
Draft 1 - 2025, March 27th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 2 - 2025, March 28th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 3 - 2025, March 29th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 4 - 2025, March 30th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 5 - 2025, March 31st (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 6 - 2025, April 1st (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 7 - 2025, April 2nd (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 8 - 2025, April 3rd (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 9 - 2025, April 4th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 10 - 2025, April 5th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 11 - 2025, April 6th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 12 - 2025, April 7th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 13 - 2025, April 8th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 14 - 2025, April 9th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 15 - 2025, April 10th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 16 - 2025, April 11th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 17 - 2025, April 12th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 18 - 2025, April 13th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 19 - 2025, April 14th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 20 - 2025, June 17th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)
Draft 21 - 2025, July 10th (❌️ unverified, too incomplete)

The deadline of April 14th to develop the CoC before publishing was not met. Work resumed on 2025, Tuesday, June 17th, after a 64 day break. Development is going at a slow and sporadic rate, as of 2025, July 10th

DAY	EXPANDED COUNTER
01	V5: NO CHANGE
02	V6: NO CHANGE
03	V7: NO CHANGE
04	V8: NO CHANGE
05	V9: NO CHANGE
06	V10: NO CHANGE
07	V11: NO CHANGE
08	V12: NO CHANGE
09	V13: NO CHANGE
10	V14: NO CHANGE
11	V15: NO CHANGE
12	V16: NO CHANGE
13	V17: NO CHANGE
14	V18: NO CHANGE
15	V19: NO CHANGE
16-78	NO UPDATES
79	V20: Progress was made
80-101	NO UPDATES
102	V21: Small progress was made, new proposal

💫️ Priorities:

• AI/Machine generated content policy: TODO

A proper AI/Machine generated content policy is needed.

• Proposal 2025.07.10

Code of Conduct

Theme zones

A set of conduct protocols for specific projects: if in a certain theme zone, certain language can't be used, while in another theme zone, it may be okay

• Theme zone 0:
• Theme zone 1:
• Theme zone 2:
• Theme zone 3:
• Theme zone 4:
• Theme zone 5:
• Theme zone 6:
• Theme zone 7:

Code of conduct repository	Seanpm2001 Code of Conduct repository
In use	Development

PREAMBLE

Coming soon

Chapters

Core ethics

• §Ethics
• §Newcomers
• §Privacy
• §Style guides
• §Creativity
• §Credit
• §Attribution
• §Evil
• • §What is evil?

Development practices

• §Bug reporting
• §Security reporting
• §Source code comments
• §Source code style
• §Schedules
• §Maintenance
• §Discussions
• §Issues
• §Pull requests
• §Merging
• §Spelling and grammar
• §Release schedule
• §Errors
• §Forks
• §Stars
• §Software testing
• §Tagging
• §Discussions
• §Time
• §Moderation
• §RFCs
• §Archival
• §Services
• §Software
• §Software platforms
• §Other sites
• §OS platforms

Discrimination and harassment

• §Slurs
• §Trolling
• §Bullying
• §Intimidation
• §Blackmail
• §Violence
• §Threats
• §Sexism
• §Slavery
• §Master and main
• §Segregation
• §Profanity
• §Age

Symbols

• §Hate symbols

Sexuality

• §Gender
• §Sexual orientation
• §Erotica
• §Pornography
• §Acceptance
• §Consent

Politics

• §Allegiance
• §Nationalism
• §Supremacy
• §Voting
• §Fascism

Manipulation

• §Phishing

Monetization

• §Cryptomining
• §Paywalls
• §Advertising
• • §Adblocking
• §Sponsors

Teams and teamwork

• §Working Groups
• §Steering group
• §Competition

Publicity

• §Criticism
• §Proprietary
• §Secrecy
• §Leaks
• §Blocks
• §Blocklists
• §Contact
• §Email
• §Contributions
• §Language

Misinformation

• §Conspiracy theories
• §Fact checking

Beliefs

• §Religion
• §Irreligion

Expression

• §Begging
• §Humility
• §Anger
• §Sadness
• §Depression
• §Shame
• • §Shaming
• • §Cancel culture
• §Cults
• §Remix
• §Remix culture
• §Culture jamming
• §Protesting
• §Megalomania
• §Culture
• §Jargon
• §Defeatism
• §Humor

Legal

• §Government
• §Copyright
• §Copyleft
• §Trademarks
• §Patents

Military

• §Military ethics

Business

• §Corporate
• §Rivalries
• §Hostile takeover
• §Criminal history
• §Resume
• §Trade
• §Diversity
• §Maintainers
• §Bribery
• §Sanctions

Health/medicine

• §Hippocratic oath
• §Drugs
• §Medicine

Malware

• §Ransomware
• §Malware
• §Spyware
• §DRM

Data

• §User data
• §Telemetry and data collection
• §Identity theft
• §Tracking

AI

• §Data mining
• §Attribution
• §Generated content
• §Misinformation
• §Responsibility of AI

Unsorted sections:

• None

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Core ethics

Ethics

Newcomers

Newcomers are always welcome to Seanpm2001 repositories. Tasks will be set aside for newcomers, but if they are up for a challenge, they can take on more advanced tasks though, with the aid of another developer to help guide them.

A very important principle to remember is to not bite the newcomer (don't attack them just for being a newcomer) everyone here starts out at 0, and even the most professional contributors started out as newcomers.

Privacy

Style guides

Seanpm2001 projects use style guides to enforce how they are written and developed. These style guides can be found at Seanpm2001 Styleguides

Creativity

Credit

Not to be confused with attribution.

Every contributor gets credit for their contributions, and has the right to be added to the credits file for the project.

Attribution

Not to be confused with credit.

Attribution is extremely important for any project. Plagiarism is not tolerated.

Evil

What is evil?

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Development practices

Bug reporting

Coming soon

Security reporting

Coming soon

Source code comments

Coming soon

Source code style

See source code style guides: seanpm2001/SourceCode_StyleGuide

Source code must follow the source code style guide of the language it is written in.

Schedules

Coming soon

Maintenance

Coming soon

Discussions

Coming soon

Issues

Coming soon

Pull requests

Coming soon

Merging

Coming soon

Spelling and grammar

Coming soon

Release schedule

Coming soon

Errors

Coming soon

Forks

Coming soon

Stars

Coming soon

Software testing

Coming soon

Tagging

Coming soon

Discussions

Coming soon

Time

Coming soon

Moderation

Coming soon

RFCs

Coming soon

Archival

Coming soon

Services

Coming soon

Software

Coming soon

Software platforms

Coming soon

Other sites

Coming soon

OS platforms

Coming soon

---

Discrimination and harassment

Slurs

Coming soon

Trolling

Coming soon

Bullying

Coming soon

Intimidation

Coming soon

Blackmail

Coming soon

Violence

Coming soon

Threats

Coming soon

Sexism

Coming soon

Slavery

Coming soon

Master and main

Coming soon

Segregation

Coming soon

Profanity

Coming soon

Age

Coming soon

---

Symbols

Coming soon

Hate symbols

Coming soon

---

Sexuality

Coming soon

Gender

Coming soon

Sexual orientation

Coming soon

Erotica

Coming soon

Pornography

Coming soon

Acceptance

Coming soon

Consent

Coming soon

---

Politics

Coming soon

Allegiance

Coming soon

Nationalism

Coming soon

Supremacy

Coming soon

Voting

Coming soon

Fascism

Coming soon

---

Manipulation

Coming soon

Phishing

Coming soon

---

Monetization

Coming soon

Cryptomining

Coming soon

Paywalls

Coming soon

Advertising

Coming soon

Adblocking

Coming soon

Sponsors

Coming soon

---

Teams and teamwork

Coming soon

Working Groups

Coming soon

Steering group

Coming soon

Competition

Coming soon

---

Publicity

Coming soon

Criticism

Coming soon

Proprietary

Coming soon

Secrecy

Coming soon

Leaks

Coming soon

Blocks

Coming soon

Blocklists

Coming soon

Contact

Coming soon

Email

Coming soon

Contributions

Coming soon

Language

Coming soon

---

Misinformation

Coming soon

Conspiracy theories

Coming soon

Fact checking

Coming soon

---

Beliefs

Coming soon

Religion

Coming soon

Irreligion

Coming soon

---

Expression

Coming soon

Begging

Coming soon

Humility

Coming soon

Anger

Coming soon

Sadness

Coming soon

Depression

Coming soon

Shame

Coming soon

Shaming

Coming soon

Cancel culture

Coming soon

Cults

Coming soon

Remix

Coming soon

Remix culture

Coming soon

Culture jamming

Coming soon

Protesting

Coming soon

Megalomania

Coming soon

Culture

Coming soon

Jargon

Coming soon

Defeatism

Coming soon

Humor

Coming soon

---

Legal

Coming soon

Government

Coming soon

Copyright

Coming soon

Copyleft

Coming soon

Trademarks

Coming soon

Patents

Coming soon

---

Military

Coming soon

Military ethics

When to not develop military software:

Coming soon

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Business

Coming soon

Corporate

Coming soon

Rivalries

Coming soon

Hostile takeover

Hostile takeovers of an organization are not allowed. Nobody should be able to hijack your company through stocks, monetary payments, or other means. Once the company is hijacked by a hostile takeover, it is usually gutted and destroyed, and never reaches its former glory.

Criminal history

Coming soon

Resume

Coming soon

Trade

Coming soon

Diversity

Coming soon

Maintainers

Coming soon

Bribery

Coming soon

Sanctions

Coming soon

---

Health/medicine

Coming soon

Hippocratic oath

The Hippocratic Oath must be taken to work on Seanpm2001 health/medical software of any kind.

Drugs

Coming soon

Medicine

Coming soon

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Malware

Malware can be developed, but it must follow the following rules. It is also a weird situation these projects are in,where anti-malware is being developed alongside malware, although the malware created is meant to have a fun side, and not be fully destructive and unethical.

Ransomware

Ransomware cannot be created. It is an entirely pointless form of malware, as it is designed to steal money, threaten users, and cause damage, and offers no creative payload.

Malware

See also: seanpm2001/Malware-as-art

Some malware can be created, but it must be optional. It must contain proper notice that it is malicious, and have multiple steps to prevent it from being run, as it warns the user. Malware is made to exist in virtual machines, and cannot contain anti-VM code. Malware cannot be created solely for the purpose of unethical destruction, it must have a purpose.

Types of malware that are not allowed:

• DRM (Digitial Restrictions Management/Digital Restrictive Measures)
• Ransomware
• Spyware

Spyware

Spyware cannot be created, as it violates the privacy of users, and steals user data.

DRM

See also: seanpm2001/DRM and DefectiveByDesign

DRM (Digital Restrictions Management/Digital Restrictive Measures) is absolutely unacceptable on any free software/open source project. DRM is antithetical to the world of ethical and free software, and should not be used on any project. DRM takes away the users freedom, and puts up barriers to the preservation of digital data.

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Data

Coming soon

User data

Coming soon

Telemetry and data collection

Coming soon

Identity theft

Coming soon

Tracking

Coming soon

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AI

An AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a software system that is trained on data through machine learning. It may not actually be intelligent, but it is artificial.

See also: GNU: Words to avoid§ArtificialIntelligence

This definition is a work in progress.

Data mining

Data mining must be done with user consent, and it cannot be done on private data. Data mining can only be done on sources with Copyleft-compatible, or public domain licenses, and any data used in the mining process must be made publicly available alongside the AI program.

Attribution (AI)

Attribution is key. Anything created with AI must be properly attributed

Ownership

Any content created by an AI is owned by the AI tool, which will commit this data into the public domain. The developer of the AI program gets limited credit (just a mention that their AI tool was used to generate this data) while the training sources used get full credit for the generated content.

Generated content

Generated content is okay in moderation. Any generated content must explicitly be labeled as generated content, and it should not make up the bulk of a project, unless it is a project that is solely about generated content (such as a repository with generated images)

Misinformation

See also: §Deepfakes

Misinformation with AI must be addressed. An AI tool cannot be purposefully made to spread misinformation, even when prompted to do so. Fact checking from reliable sources is required, and disclaimers must be added.

Responsibility of AI

See: §Ownership

Section needs expansion.

Deepfakes

Deepfakes are a core problem with Artificial Intelligence that a solution for needs to be worked on. Developers should not create deepfakes that can damage someones reputation without proper reason (such as criticism) spread misinformation, cause physical harm, or raise an issue with identity theft. Software should not be developed that produces deepfakes, if it violates these rules.

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Old code of conduct

Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct

Our Pledge

In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming environment, we as contributors and maintainers pledge to making participation in our project and our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

Our Standards

Examples of behavior that contributes to creating a positive environment include:

• Using welcoming and inclusive language
• Being respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences
• Gracefully accepting constructive criticism
• Focusing on what is best for the community
• Showing empathy towards other community members

Examples of unacceptable behavior by participants include:

• The use of sexualized language or imagery and unwelcome sexual attention or advances
• Trolling, insulting/derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
• Public or private harassment
• Publishing others' private information, such as a physical or electronic address, without explicit permission
• Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting

Our Responsibilities

Project maintainers are responsible for clarifying the standards of acceptable behavior and are expected to take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any instances of unacceptable behavior.

Project maintainers have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, or to ban temporarily or permanently any contributor for other behaviors that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.

Scope

This Code of Conduct applies both within project spaces and in public spaces when an individual is representing the project or its community. Examples of representing a project or community include using an official project e-mail address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event. Representation of a project may be further defined and clarified by project maintainers.

Enforcement

Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported by contacting the project team at [email protected]. All complaints will be reviewed and investigated and will result in a response that is deemed necessary and appropriate to the circumstances. The project team is obligated to maintain confidentiality with regard to the reporter of an incident. Further details of specific enforcement policies may be posted separately.

Project maintainers who do not follow or enforce the Code of Conduct in good faith may face temporary or permanent repercussions as determined by other members of the project's leadership.

Attribution

This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 1.4, available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/1/4/code-of-conduct.html

For answers to common questions about this code of conduct, see https://www.contributor-covenant.org/faq

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