Chair of Perl's Community Affairs Team quits as language overlords force org into hiatus
(2021/08/09)
- Reference: 1628532185
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/08/09/perl_cat_hiatus/
- Source link:
Perl enthusiasts looking forward to a relaxing summer could be in for disappointment after the foundation put the Community Affairs Team (CAT) [1]on hiatus and the chair [2]resigned .
Samantha McVey's resignation came in the wake of the decision by The Perl Foundation (TPF) board to retract the CAT statements of 19 April 2021 and 2 May 2021 and put the CAT on hiatus "while its charter is formalized."
The Register [3]noted those CAT reports back in May, one of which included news of a permaban over alleged "unacceptable" behaviour by certain members of the Perl community. That ban was later dialled back to last a year.
[4]
Now the CAT has been put on hiatus.
[5]
[6]
The reports have been [7]updated with a bland redaction statement. The sanctions, agreed by the board, will continue to stand.
TPF pointed to a lack of a final charter for the CAT as a cause for the hiatus and yanking of the CAT statements. "While the CAT has had board-sponsored training and a draft charter, the final charter has not been formally approved therefore previous CAT actions cannot be measured against it."
[8]
McVey was unimpressed, and said: "Retracting the CAT's transparency reports sends the message the Board of Directors is not willing to support the CAT, and is not prioritizing the safety of the community.
"Remaining on the Community Affairs Team would imply I accept or support TPF's actions. I do not."
McVey also noted that a substantial amount of work had gone into a charter for the CAT and a Code of Conduct, with refinements following comments from the Board.
[9]
"Even if imperfect," McVey said, "it is important to have some kind of Charter to work with!
"Sadly this has not happened. What has happened instead is backtracking and now finally retracting and erasing the CAT's past reports."
Matt Trout, one of the individuals sanctioned, was pleased to see TPF's statement. However, he also accepted the punishment meted out to him.
I am pleased to see this statement: [10]https://t.co/QJ1jf7k0x6
Perhaps surpisingly to some people, I am -also- pleased that while the process has been disavowed my punishment remains in force, because I did still fuck up and upset Sawyer (and have since apologised to him for that). — Matt S "Ass around and ascertain" Trout (@shadowcat_mst) [11]August 7, 2021
The reports caused [12]more than a little controversy in the Perl community, and their retraction [13]has been welcomed by some members.
[14]Perl changes dev's permaban for 'unacceptable' behaviour to a year-long lockout after community response
[15]Key Perl Core developer quits, says he was bullied for daring to suggest programming language contained 'cruft'
[16]Perl.com theft blamed on social engineering attack: Registrar 'convinced' to alter DNS records by miscreants
[17]Perl-clutching hijackers appear to have seized control of 33-year-old programming language's .com domain
However, "the reason TPF gave for retracting the reports was for not based on the contents of the reports," [18]said McVey . "If it had been, maybe things would have turned out differently."
Of the CAT, Trout [19]said he expected "it to be back in some form" but wanted a Code of Conduct agreed and published before restarting.
"In the end, this wasn't really about me," he told The Register , "this was about multiple structural process and community outreach failures by TPF which turned what would ideally have been 'mst gets a well deserved public slap for upsetting sawyer' followed by everybody nodding approvingly and moving on into a slow motion trainwreck that resulted in a massive waste of human capital at the TPF level and a massive erosion in community trust.
"Given TPF ideally *should* have an effective, trusted team to enforce standards in TPF managed spaces, I hope that they take this opportunity to reboot the CAT in a form that's able to become such a thing."
And McVey? It looks like there's a vacant position in the Perl community. At least for the time being.
McVey told The Register : "The hardest part for the Board will be to decide exactly what they want. We are a long way off from where we were, yet it feels like we are further away from the objective. The Board needs to pass and then convince people a Code of Conduct or Charter won't be later reversed."
I will not volunteer for The Perl Foundation until there is a Charter, and I'm confident that the Board of Directors will not backtrack on such a Charter over time. — Samantha McVey (@SamanthaMcVey) [20]August 7, 2021
We put it to McVey if the current furore was a symptom of a wider problem. The reply? "I don't think it is unique to Perl, but is shared by any community lacking in well defined structure."
There remain two incidents reported to the CAT which will be held for review until the dust has settled and the charter is approved.
The Register contacted TPF for its thoughts on the matter, but has yet to receive a response. ®
Get our [21]Tech Resources
[1] https://news.perlfoundation.org/post/cat_review
[2] https://cry.nu/perl/perl-foundation-resignation/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/07/perl_permaban/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YRGlnDiGhmPLFCf@37S@KQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YRGlnDiGhmPLFCf@37S@KQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YRGlnDiGhmPLFCf@37S@KQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://news.perlfoundation.org/post/cat-transparency-report-updates0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YRGlnDiGhmPLFCf@37S@KQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YRGlnDiGhmPLFCf@37S@KQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://t.co/QJ1jf7k0x6
[11] https://twitter.com/shadowcat_mst/status/1424053598430826499?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[12] http://blogs.perl.org/users/neilb/2021/05/open-letter-to-the-perl-foundation-board.html
[13] https://twitter.com/mithaldu/status/1424007412210622471
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/07/perl_permaban/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/13/perl_dev_quits/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/02/perl_domain_theft/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/28/perl_hijacking/
[18] https://twitter.com/SamanthaMcVey/status/1424019224440315909
[19] https://twitter.com/shadowcat_mst/status/1424042906470465541
[20] https://twitter.com/SamanthaMcVey/status/1423949289546522627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[21] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Samantha McVey's resignation came in the wake of the decision by The Perl Foundation (TPF) board to retract the CAT statements of 19 April 2021 and 2 May 2021 and put the CAT on hiatus "while its charter is formalized."
The Register [3]noted those CAT reports back in May, one of which included news of a permaban over alleged "unacceptable" behaviour by certain members of the Perl community. That ban was later dialled back to last a year.
[4]
Now the CAT has been put on hiatus.
[5]
[6]
The reports have been [7]updated with a bland redaction statement. The sanctions, agreed by the board, will continue to stand.
TPF pointed to a lack of a final charter for the CAT as a cause for the hiatus and yanking of the CAT statements. "While the CAT has had board-sponsored training and a draft charter, the final charter has not been formally approved therefore previous CAT actions cannot be measured against it."
[8]
McVey was unimpressed, and said: "Retracting the CAT's transparency reports sends the message the Board of Directors is not willing to support the CAT, and is not prioritizing the safety of the community.
"Remaining on the Community Affairs Team would imply I accept or support TPF's actions. I do not."
McVey also noted that a substantial amount of work had gone into a charter for the CAT and a Code of Conduct, with refinements following comments from the Board.
[9]
"Even if imperfect," McVey said, "it is important to have some kind of Charter to work with!
"Sadly this has not happened. What has happened instead is backtracking and now finally retracting and erasing the CAT's past reports."
Matt Trout, one of the individuals sanctioned, was pleased to see TPF's statement. However, he also accepted the punishment meted out to him.
I am pleased to see this statement: [10]https://t.co/QJ1jf7k0x6
Perhaps surpisingly to some people, I am -also- pleased that while the process has been disavowed my punishment remains in force, because I did still fuck up and upset Sawyer (and have since apologised to him for that). — Matt S "Ass around and ascertain" Trout (@shadowcat_mst) [11]August 7, 2021
The reports caused [12]more than a little controversy in the Perl community, and their retraction [13]has been welcomed by some members.
[14]Perl changes dev's permaban for 'unacceptable' behaviour to a year-long lockout after community response
[15]Key Perl Core developer quits, says he was bullied for daring to suggest programming language contained 'cruft'
[16]Perl.com theft blamed on social engineering attack: Registrar 'convinced' to alter DNS records by miscreants
[17]Perl-clutching hijackers appear to have seized control of 33-year-old programming language's .com domain
However, "the reason TPF gave for retracting the reports was for not based on the contents of the reports," [18]said McVey . "If it had been, maybe things would have turned out differently."
Of the CAT, Trout [19]said he expected "it to be back in some form" but wanted a Code of Conduct agreed and published before restarting.
"In the end, this wasn't really about me," he told The Register , "this was about multiple structural process and community outreach failures by TPF which turned what would ideally have been 'mst gets a well deserved public slap for upsetting sawyer' followed by everybody nodding approvingly and moving on into a slow motion trainwreck that resulted in a massive waste of human capital at the TPF level and a massive erosion in community trust.
"Given TPF ideally *should* have an effective, trusted team to enforce standards in TPF managed spaces, I hope that they take this opportunity to reboot the CAT in a form that's able to become such a thing."
And McVey? It looks like there's a vacant position in the Perl community. At least for the time being.
McVey told The Register : "The hardest part for the Board will be to decide exactly what they want. We are a long way off from where we were, yet it feels like we are further away from the objective. The Board needs to pass and then convince people a Code of Conduct or Charter won't be later reversed."
I will not volunteer for The Perl Foundation until there is a Charter, and I'm confident that the Board of Directors will not backtrack on such a Charter over time. — Samantha McVey (@SamanthaMcVey) [20]August 7, 2021
We put it to McVey if the current furore was a symptom of a wider problem. The reply? "I don't think it is unique to Perl, but is shared by any community lacking in well defined structure."
There remain two incidents reported to the CAT which will be held for review until the dust has settled and the charter is approved.
The Register contacted TPF for its thoughts on the matter, but has yet to receive a response. ®
Get our [21]Tech Resources
[1] https://news.perlfoundation.org/post/cat_review
[2] https://cry.nu/perl/perl-foundation-resignation/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/07/perl_permaban/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YRGlnDiGhmPLFCf@37S@KQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YRGlnDiGhmPLFCf@37S@KQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YRGlnDiGhmPLFCf@37S@KQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://news.perlfoundation.org/post/cat-transparency-report-updates0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YRGlnDiGhmPLFCf@37S@KQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YRGlnDiGhmPLFCf@37S@KQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://t.co/QJ1jf7k0x6
[11] https://twitter.com/shadowcat_mst/status/1424053598430826499?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[12] http://blogs.perl.org/users/neilb/2021/05/open-letter-to-the-perl-foundation-board.html
[13] https://twitter.com/mithaldu/status/1424007412210622471
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/07/perl_permaban/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/13/perl_dev_quits/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/02/perl_domain_theft/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/28/perl_hijacking/
[18] https://twitter.com/SamanthaMcVey/status/1424019224440315909
[19] https://twitter.com/shadowcat_mst/status/1424042906470465541
[20] https://twitter.com/SamanthaMcVey/status/1423949289546522627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[21] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
What a Pearl!
Social Ambulator
Only in America! Is it Tom Sawyer? Does anyone other than the author have any idea what this is all about? I suppose that’s what happens when a scripting language becomes a religion. I guess it has all been precipitated because many of the acolytes have converted to Python. Snakes alive!
Perl's CoC caught in CAT flap
colinb
Well someone had to...
Lack of originality in curse words.
Zarno
Maybe I'm a bit old, but I saw the language and handle the one sanctioned person used in that tweet, and instantly thought "I wouldn't want to work with that one..."
Why would you casually drop such overused swears online where anyone can see them?
It's embarrassing.
At least bring up some fun and imaginative stuff, like "I really wombatulated the koala when I upset...".
There's also something supremely satisfying in telling someone to extract their dome from their cloaca, instead of using the tired old alternative.
I'm already coding in a lawn chair out on the shop floor, now I just need a digital lawn to tell people to get off of.
FFS
They really need to decide whether they are they to try and drag the decrepit old language in to the 21st century, or just play a great big game of woke-wank.