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Code of Conduct

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This page mirrors the repository's canonical CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md. Edit the source, not this file.

Our Pledge​

We as members, contributors, and maintainers pledge to make participation in the RFWhisper community a harassment-free, welcoming, and respectful experience for everyone — regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

We also pledge to welcome operators and developers of every:

  • License class and tenure — from brand-new Technicians / Foundation holders to multi-decade Extra / Full call holders.
  • Technical background — whether you solder filters by hand, train neural nets, both, or neither yet.
  • Mode preference — CW operators, FT8 fanatics, SSB ragchewers, FM repeater regulars, digital modes die-hards, and everyone in between.
  • Geography and language — English is the project's working language today, but help translating, welcoming non-English speakers, and correcting jargon-heavy docs is always valued.

We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community, in the best tradition of amateur radio: help the next operator get on the air.

Our Standards​

Examples of behavior that contribute to a positive environment​

  • Using welcoming and inclusive language.
  • Being patient with newcomers — to the code, to DSP, to ML, or to ham radio itself.
  • Respecting differing viewpoints and experiences, especially about tradeoffs (latency vs. quality, classical DSP vs. NN, RPi vs. desktop).
  • Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback.
  • Accepting responsibility, apologizing to those affected by our mistakes, and learning from the experience.
  • Focusing on what is best not just for us as individuals, but for the overall community — which includes hams who may never contribute code but will use the tool in the field.
  • Citing sources (papers, datasheets, specs) when making technical claims.
  • Crediting work — contributors, model authors, dataset creators, fellow hams.

Examples of unacceptable behavior​

  • Harassment of any kind, public or private.
  • The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of any kind.
  • Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks.
  • Public or private harassment, including deliberate intimidation or stalking.
  • Publishing others' private information — physical/email addresses, callsigns when they've been used anonymously, GPS coordinates from sample metadata, QTH details — without their explicit permission.
  • Gatekeeping — e.g., dismissing contributors because they don't hold a license, don't operate CW, don't use "real" SDRs, use phonebook rigs, aren't native English speakers, or "aren't real hams/engineers." Everyone is welcome to participate.
  • Technical condescension — talking down to anyone asking a question, regardless of how basic that question seems. We were all beginners.
  • Willfully introducing security vulnerabilities, signal-destroying regressions, or misleading benchmarks.
  • Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional or amateur-radio-club setting.

Ham Radio Specific Norms​

Amateur radio has its own conventions. A few we actively uphold inside this project:

  • Q-signals and jargon are welcome, but if a newcomer asks what something means, explain without sighing.
  • Callsigns are optional. You don't need a license to contribute. Licensed contributors should not treat their call as a status marker.
  • On-air conduct matters. If a contributor behaves in ways that would get them kicked off a club repeater, we consider that relevant behavior here too.
  • Respect your country's regulations. Don't request features that would encourage operating out-of-band, at illegal power, in prohibited modes, or that would decode encrypted communications where prohibited.
  • No real-time decryption of encrypted amateur or commercial services. RFWhisper is a noise-reduction tool. Full stop.

Enforcement Responsibilities​

Community maintainers are responsible for clarifying and enforcing our standards of acceptable behavior and will take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any behavior that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.

Community maintainers have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, and will communicate reasons for moderation decisions when appropriate.

Scope​

This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces — GitHub repos, issues, discussions, pull requests, the project website, Matrix/Discord chat (when it exists), mailing lists — and also applies when an individual is officially representing the community in public spaces. Examples of representing our community include:

  • Using an official project email address
  • Posting via an official social media account
  • Acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event
  • Using the RFWhisper name at a hamfest, conference, or on-air event

It also applies to on-air behavior when that behavior directly involves the project or other project members — e.g., harassing another contributor over a repeater or during a net.

Reporting​

If you experience or witness unacceptable behavior — or have any other concerns — please report it by contacting the maintainers at **conduct@rfwhisper.org** (placeholder — will be live by first release; until then, DM a maintainer on GitHub or open a private security advisory).

Include in your report, if comfortable:

  • Your contact info (or anonymous is fine)
  • Names (usernames, callsigns, real names) of people involved
  • A description of what happened, with links if applicable
  • Any additional context
  • Whether you believe the incident is ongoing

All reports will be reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly. All community maintainers are obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident.

We will acknowledge receipt of a report within 72 hours and commit to a resolution plan within 7 days (may be longer for complex situations, but we will communicate).

Enforcement Guidelines​

Community maintainers will follow these Community Impact Guidelines in determining the consequences for any action they deem in violation of this Code of Conduct:

1. Correction​

Community Impact: Use of inappropriate language or other behavior deemed unprofessional or unwelcome in the community.

Consequence: A private, written warning from community maintainers, providing clarity around the nature of the violation and an explanation of why the behavior was inappropriate. A public apology may be requested.

2. Warning​

Community Impact: A violation through a single incident or series of actions.

Consequence: A warning with consequences for continued behavior. No interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, for a specified period of time. This includes avoiding interactions in community spaces as well as external channels like social media. Violating these terms may lead to a temporary or permanent ban.

3. Temporary Ban​

Community Impact: A serious violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior.

Consequence: A temporary ban from any sort of interaction or public communication with the community for a specified period of time. No public or private interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, is allowed during this period. Violating these terms may lead to a permanent ban.

4. Permanent Ban​

Community Impact: Demonstrating a pattern of violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior, harassment of an individual, or aggression toward or disparagement of classes of individuals.

Consequence: A permanent ban from any sort of public interaction within the project community.

Attribution​

This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 2.1, available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/2/1/code_of_conduct.html, with amateur-radio-specific additions written for the RFWhisper project.

Community Impact Guidelines were inspired by Mozilla's code of conduct enforcement ladder.

For answers to common questions about this code of conduct, see the FAQ at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/faq. Translations are available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/translations.

Above all: be the elmer you wish you had. Welcome the next operator — coder or not — into the shack. 73.