6502.org

We do have some guidance (terms of use) at the time of signup, but we don't seem to have any sticky post about what kinds of behaviour are especially welcome here and what kinds are not welcome.

I have found various helpful policies laid out on other forums, from which this short list is taken:

• Be respectful. Anyone sharing creative work is making a contribution, however modest.
  Ask questions out of curiosity. Don't cross-examine.
  Instead of "you're doing it wrong", suggest alternatives. When someone is learning, help them learn more.
  When something isn't good, you needn't pretend that it is. But don't be gratuitously negative.

I have also written something of my own: To which I would add: don't be repetitive. Read the comments before yours and respond as if in a conversation. If you find yourself making the same point repeatedly, consider the effect on the readership and consider making a new thread which you can link to instead.

A couple of things might be worth adding:

- please mark an off-topic thread with an OT: in the Subject, to help others to skip reading every update. (Before posting an off-topic thread, it might be worth a quick look around to see if there are already too many recent ones.)

- bear in mind the conversation that your comment is part of. If your comment, or the ones you are responding to, have drifted from the original topic, consider posting a new thread and linking back with an "Elsewhere..." link. Ideally also post a note in the original linking to the new one.

Moderation here has a light touch, so don't expect your comments to be re-threaded for you.

A good point! It is of course good to avoid all those things you weren't doing. And it's good to hear people's opinions. But there's such a thing as a good statement in a bad place. I am sensitive to thread-drift and to negative comments about people's project ideas (arguably too sensitive.)

What I'd suggest is that if you - anyone - has specifically chosen some alternative way of proceeding, which isn't in tune with the project that a thread is about, then it's a good time to start a new thread, where you can lay out the details of how you think a project could proceed, with stories of how you did it, links to resources one might find useful, and so on. It's ideal to link back to the thread you came from, and it might even be helpful to put in a short note and a link in that pre-existing thread, helping people find your new thread.

For example, if someone was specifically making a TTL CPU, and you (anyone) had a strong interest in using CPLDs to make CPUs, that would be a good time to start a new thread rather than a digression.

Of course, if someone has an enquiry, and doesn't yet know quite know what their approach is, then of course it's fine to suggest alternatives which you're familiar with.

There are forums which are so busy that a new thread won't reach nearly as many readers as an existing thread - but here on 6502.org I think we see people popping up everywhere, and we can assume that a thread with a good Subject will reach everyone who's interested.

(Starting a new thread is a big step the first time you do it, but it shouldn't be regarded as a big deal. It is well worth writing a descriptive Subject, and sometimes it is worthwhile to edit the Subject after a few posts, if it becomes clear that the thread is about something else.

Here's an illustration:
Bad Subject: Question!
Good Subject: My design doesn't work
Later edit to Subject: Trouble with clocks and crystals
)

I made an intemperate comment elsewhere, realised my mistake and thought I could explain my thoughts here. The following is of course my opinion.

Generally we have a good healthy discourse on this site, with few disagreements and little sniping or flaming.

There's one scenario which consistently brings up bad feeling, which has happened with at least three posters here that I can think of: the poster is knowledgeable and generally has good information and advice, but sometimes veers off into overstating their case. They may state opinion as fact, or present common caveats as solid rules, or present their own preferences as universals. What happens next, often enough to be noticeable, is that other posters try to moderate the position, whether by direct argument or by contradiction or by attack. Of course, sometimes this leads to an unpleasant scene - rarely these days - and sometimes it leads to repetitive statements and corrections, which might appear tedious or annoying to the bystander.

If we could find a way to avoid these things happening, the forum would be a more welcoming place, and we wouldn't lead anyone to believe that bombast or sniping are the regular fare here.

Sadly this seems to be something nerds are prone to doing. Make a general statement without qualification, and someone can't resist adding caveats or pointing out the corner case where it isn't true.

All you can do is suggest people try to be diplomatic and pragmatic. Assume good faith.

On a more general note, the Open Code of Conduct us the gold standard and is easy to adopt: http://todogroup.org/opencodeofconduct/

Agreed, that's a good code.

That code of conduct is overkill for a tiny forum with maybe a dozen active members, and guaranteed to rub anyone right of center politically the wrong way.

What BigEd suggested at the top of the thread is good.

The Open Code of Conduct is ideal for small communities that deal with technical stuff. Most of the stuff mentioned will never come up because discussions are technical in nature, but because it's clearly stated up front it stops those problems creeping in. I don't really see anything in there that could be contentious on a technical forum like this.

I have to agree. In fact, my first thought when I read it was "thought police."

A code of conduct is not about what a person thinks, it is about what they say, in a particular place. If a person happens to think lots of things which a code of conduct disapproves of, they should feel encouraged to find their own platform to say those things. Of course everyone is welcome to continue discussing microprocessors here. (I see a difference between having your thoughts policed and having a considerate and respectful forum.)

Edit: rewritten.

People will say what they think. A politically slanted CoC like this will mean that one side gets to speak their mind while the other must constantly walk on eggshells. Is this what we want?

I would much rather see something narrower that just deals with the kind of issues that a technical forum comes up against, like how to ask and answer questions, or not making too many assumptions about people. The rest can be dealt with as it happens or just by applying "Don't be an asshole".


For the record, I don't have a problem with most of what it says, it's just that I've seen well-intentioned moves like this result divisions in communities as people increasingly care more about signaling their political opinions and less about everything else.

Bear in mind that the code of conduct linked has nothing to do with this forum, and probably never will. Likewise, nothing any of us say in this thread is binding on anyone here. I started the thread just to note some things I've seen and how I think it would be best to proceed.

We do, when we sign up here, agree to some terms which include guidance on acceptable behaviour.

You're right, some people will ignore the norms of a community, others will try to conform.

Personally I think it helps to express disapproval, but it's best to avoid an argumen and avoid insulting anyone. My aim is to discourage copycats, rather than to change anyone's habits.

Please re-read it carefully, it's not political at all. It's just enumerating what most people expect anyway. Sorry if that makes you feel like you have to walk on eggshells, but either way it's worth being aware of I think. When discussing 6502s I don't think you should have any difficulty.

It's really not worth discussing whether the linked code will be found disagreeable, as it has already been found so a few posts up. I find it baffling, but others find this predictable enough. It's a demonstration, of a sort, of the diversity of the world.

If we're not careful we'll end up talking about talking about talking about microprocessors.

Do you want to talk about that?