Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ attempts to address common questions and concerns around the Jupyter community’s Code of Conduct. If you still have questions after reading it, please feel free to contact us at conduct@jupyter.org.

Why have you adopted a Code of Conduct?

We think the Jupyter community is awesome. If you’re familiar with the Jupyter community, you’ll probably notice that the Code basically matches what we already do. Think of this as documentation: we’re taking implicit expectations about behavior and making them explicit.

We’re doing this because the Jupyter community is growing faster than any of us could have anticipated. This is on balance a very positive thing, but as we’ve grown past the point where it’s possible to know the whole community, we think it’s very important to be clear about our values.

We know that the Jupyter community is open, friendly, and welcoming. We want to make sure everyone else knows it too.

What does it mean to “adopt” a Code of Conduct?

For the most part, we don’t think it means large changes. We think that the text does a really good job describing the way the Jupyter community already conducts itself. We expect that most people will simply continue to behave as they have in the past.

However, we do expect that people will abide by the spirit and words of the Code of Conduct when in “official” Jupyter spaces. This code has been adopted by both the Jupyter Executive Council and JupyterDay/JupyterCon events. That means that it will apply both in community spaces and at our events.

In practice, Jupyter spaces include mailing lists, various communication channels, and events.

What happens if someone violates the Code of Conduct?

We are all stewards of our community, and are encouraged to participate in ways that defend the values highlighted in this document and help others understand when their actions go against these values (by engaging them and directing them to this document if necessary). If that doesn’t work, or if you need more help, you can contact conduct@jupyter.org. For more details please see our Reporting Guidelines.

What about events funded by Project Jupyter?

This Code of Conduct will also cover any events that Project Jupyter funds.

The project requires that any events Project Jupyter funds have policies and procedures in place for handling harassment. It’s especially important to us that real-life events take steps to protect the physical and mental security of their participants.

Event organizers will enforce the Code of Conduct.

Why do we need a Code of Conduct? Everyone knows not to be a jerk.

Sadly, not everyone knows this.

However, even if everyone was kind, everyone was compassionate, and everyone was familiar with codes of conduct it would still be incumbent upon our community to publish our own. Maintaining a Code of Conduct forces us to consider and articulate what kind of community we want to be, and serves as a constant reminder to put our best foot forward. But most importantly, it serves as a signpost to people looking to join our community that we feel these values are important.

This is censorship! I have the right to say whatever I want!

You do – in your space. If you’d like to hang out in our spaces, we have some simple guidelines to follow. If you want to, for example, form a group where Jupyter is discussed using language inappropriate for general channels then nobody’s stopping you. We respect your right to establish whatever codes of conduct you want in the spaces that belong to you. Please honor this Code of Conduct in our spaces.