Open-source database SQLite has told its developers it expects them to follow Christ, love chastity, clothe the naked, and not murder, steal, nor sleep with their colleagues’ spouses.
That’s the upshot of a somewhat untypical code of conduct that the widely used project has published online. While most code of conducts take an irreligious approach, urging people to be respectful of others’ views and treat everyone nice, SQLite has instead gone for rules drawn up by St Benedict more than 1500 years ago.
The code of conduct has drawn significant attention, complete with much Twitter rage and condemnation. “So SQLite decided to adopt a code of conduct, which is great,” noted infosec bod Darren Meyer, for instance. “But they decided to adopt one that isn’t practical to enforce and that excludes anyone who’s not an adherent to an Abrahamic tradition.”
Bear in mind, though, the code of conduct has been online for nine months, and, according to the original author of SQLite and its main administrator, D. Richard Hipp, he received “100 per cent buy-in from all committers prior to publishing.”
Hipp told us the clients that urged a code of conduct be created to govern community interactions “seemed to not care what the CoC was, as long as it was written down.” But he defends the “Christian values” that the document represents and points out that SQLite source code has a “blessing” at the top of each file in place of a license and includes the Jesus-inspired phrase: “Find forgiveness for yourself while forgiving others.”
“I could have edited the list down to just those aspects that seem relevant to coding,” Hipp told us. “But that would put me in the position of editing and redacting Benedict of Nursia, as if I were wiser than he. And I considered that. But in the end, I thought it better to include the whole thing without change (other than translation into English).”
“Nobody is excluded from the SQLite community due to biological category or religious creed,” he told us. “The preface to the CoC should make this clear. The only way to get kicked out of the SQLite community is by shouting, flaming, and disrespectful behavior. In 18 years, only one person has ever been banned from the mailing list.”
In other words, Hipp decided to adopt a seminal Christian text rather than grab some cookie-cutter code of conduct from elsewhere, reflecting his beliefs and, he believes, the general world view of those who contribute to open-source software projects for free.
Date published: 13/11/2018
Written by: Kieren McCarthy
Article source: www.theregister.co.uk