Maldives Open Source Society is a space for everyone.

What does that mean?

These are not just statements of belief, but principles that we collectively enact. We are dedicated to upholding them, and to ensuring that all members of our community respect them.

Below, you’ll find the full text of our Code of Conduct, with more detailed information about our community principles.

Code of Conduct

Maldives Open Source Society will follow code of conduct (amended to fit the goals of the NGO) based on Ubuntu Code of Conduct v2.0, which is as follows.

We strive to:

We depend on the good will and work of our members and the general public. Thus should consider them when making decisions.

Disagreement is no excuse for poor manners. We work together to resolve conflict, assume good intentions and do our best to act in an empathic fashion. We don’t allow frustration to turn into a personal attack. A community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one.

We can all make mistakes; when we do, we take responsibility for them. If someone has been harmed or offended, we listen carefully and respectfully, and work to right the wrong.

Since this NGO, encompasses people from various different fields related to information and creative computing technologies, any work we do will include a complex whole made of many parts, it is the sum of many dreams. Collaboration between members in MOSS, and between MOSS and other NGOs that each have their own goal and vision is essential; for the whole to be more than the sum of its parts, each part must make an effort to understand the whole. Collaboration reduces redundancy and improves the quality of our work. Internally and externally, we celebrate good collaboration. Disagreements, social and technical, are normal, but we do not allow them to persist and fester leaving others uncertain of the agreed direction. We expect participants in the project to resolve disagreements constructively. When they cannot, we escalate the matter to structures with designated leaders to arbitrate and provide clarity and direction.

Nobody is expected to be perfect in this community. Asking questions early avoids many problems later, so questions are encouraged, though they may be directed to the appropriate forum. Those who are asked should be responsive and helpful.

When somebody leaves or disengages from any of our projects, we ask that they do so in a way that minimises disruption to the project. They should tell people they are leaving and take the proper steps to ensure that others can pick up where they left off.

Leadership, authority and responsibility

We all lead by example, in debate and in action. We encourage new participants to feel empowered to lead, to take action, and to experiment when they feel innovation could improve the project. Leadership can be exercised by anyone simply by taking action, there is no need to wait for recognition when the opportunity to lead presents itself.

We value discussion, data and decisiveness

We gather opinions, data and commitments from concerned parties before taking a decision. We expect leaders to help teams come to a decision in a reasonable time, to seek guidance or be willing to take the decision themselves when consensus is lacking, and to take responsibility for implementation. The poorest decision of all is no decision: clarity of direction has value in itself. Sometimes all the data are not available, or consensus is elusive. A decision must still be made. There is no guarantee of a perfect decision every time - we prefer to err, learn, and err less in future than to postpone action indefinitely. We recognise that we will work better when we trust the teams closest to a problem to make the decision for the project. If we learn of a decision that we disagree with, we can engage the relevant team to find common ground, and failing that, we have a governance structure that can review the decision. Ultimately, if a decision has been taken by the people responsible for it, and is supported by the project governance, it will stand. None of us expects to agree with every decision, and we value highly the willingness to stand by the project and help it deliver even on the occasions when we ourselves may prefer a different route.

Open meritocracy

We invite anybody, from any company, institution, government and non government body to participate in any aspect of the projects we work on. Our community is open, and any responsibility can be carried by any contributor who demonstrates the required capacity and competence.

Teamwork

A leader’s foremost goal is the success of the team. “A virtuoso is judged by their actions; a leader is judged by the actions of their team.” A leader knows when to act and when to step back. They know when to delegate work, and when to take it upon themselves.

Credit

A good leader does not seek the limelight, but celebrates team members for the work they do. Leaders may be more visible than members of the team, good ones use that visibility to highlight the great work of others.

Courage and considerateness

Leadership occasionally requires bold decisions that will not be widely understood, consensual or popular. We value the courage to take such decisions, because they enable the project as a whole to move forward faster than we could if we required complete consensus. Nevertheless, boldness demands considerateness; take bold decisions, but do so mindful of the challenges they present for others, and work to soften the impact of those decisions on them. Communicating changes and their reasoning clearly and early on is as important as the implementation of the change itself.

Conflicts of interest

We expect leaders to be aware when they are conflicted due to employment or other projects they are involved in, and abstain or delegate decisions that may be seen to be self-interested. We expect that everyone who participates in MOSS does so with the goal of making life better for its members and the public.

When in doubt, ask for a second opinion. Perceived conflicts of interest are important to address; as a leader, act to ensure that decisions are credible even if they must occasionally be unpopular, difficult or favourable to the interests of one group over another.

This Code is not exhaustive or complete. It is not a rulebook; it serves to distil our common understanding of a collaborative, shared environment and goals. We expect it to be followed in spirit as much as in the letter.