The moderation team responsible for maintaining order in the NixOS project forums and repositories has announced its resignation in protest against the actions of the Steering Committee (SC), which has intervened in the moderators' work and attempted to influence decision-making. The committee's actions are viewed by the moderators as an abuse of power, and since the project's rules do not regulate such situations, the moderators have decided that they cannot fulfill their duties in good faith under these conditions.
Disagreements arose from the fact that the Steering Committee and the current moderators hold different views on community management. The committee is sensitive to criticism and does not welcome discussions about fundamental conflicts that have emerged within the community. The moderators believe that such discussions are necessary for the project's growth and that rather than avoiding difficult topics or suppressing them, they should facilitate discussions in a healthy and constructive manner, avoiding personal attacks.
Examples of the inappropriate actions of the Steering Committee include attempts to overturn some moderators' decisions, exerting pressure on moderators to take actions against certain participants and discussion topics, demanding accountability and justification of actions from moderators, and attempts to appoint and dismiss moderators without a vote (the committee explained its actions as an effort to achieve diversity of opinions and eliminate bias within the moderation team).
The protesting moderators have called for the Steering Committee to resign before the elections scheduled to take place from October 15 to November 1, allowing new members chosen by the community during the voting process to take their places. The community is encouraged to seek transparency and accountability in the work of the governing council, as well as to introduce checks and balances to prevent abuses of power.
Additional Information: Robert Hensing from the steering committee explained that the committee attempted to collaborate with the moderation team to understand moderation decisions, aiming to guide moderators' behavior objectively and ensure fairness in moderation. The primary complaint from the moderators was that moderation was based not on a code of conduct but on personal opinions and compromises. More decisive measures were taken as the moderators were unwilling to report to the steering committee, to which they are directly subordinate in the project hierarchy.
Source: opennet.ru
