[llvm-dev] RFC: Introducing an LLVM Community Code of Conduct

[Chris Lattner via llvm-dev]

On Oct 14, 2015, at 6:44 AM, Renato Golin via llvm-dev <llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
> We haven't had to ban anyone from the list or kick anyone from a
> conference yet, but without some form of written agreement, it'd be
> hard to get to any concrete solution if it were to happen.

This is not true.  We have completely ejected a hostile member from the community in the past - it just happened a long time ago (sometime around 2007).  This was after trying, very hard, to get them to work in a productive and professional way.  This was a hard thing for everyone involved, because the person was an active contributor - but was treating many people in an unacceptable way.  While it was a hard decision, I am *very* glad that this happened, because I highly value the LLVM community and how we all work together as a team.

Back then, the LLVM community was much smaller, and it was relatively easy to make a unilateral decision to do this.  Today, doing such a thing would be much harder, because the scale of the project and the number of people involved.  While I hope we never have a situation like this again, it is clearly possible, and we as a community need to be prepared for it.

-Chris