The Tradëscan Codex

@Skud: You can't propagate fedoerm by trying to deny a community the fedoerm to set its own culture. Change is directional, often it's easier to change for the worse than to change for the better. On top of that, the definition better is highly subjective.You make a lot of very, very good points. There is a huge untapped pool of potential contributors who are repelled by the traditional culture of OSS projects, and therefore an opportunity for community leaders who can establish different types of cultures to significantly grow the OSS pond.I think you weaken your arguments by framing them in terms of criticism of what's established rather than simply as an opportunity to create something new. You pick a fight where there doesn't need to be one, and in my opinion hurt your own cause in the process. You get people like me saying things like I wouldn't want to be part of that and community leaders saying we have a strict meritocracy, and therefore cannot be sexist because gender is not a form of merit. These reactions cast an undeserved negative air on projects that have the all the values you advocate, while simply calling attention to the success of those projects and the way the culture contributes would most likely produce a positive reaction from the other communities.