Don't be a contemptible fellow (be excellent to each other)

This is a combination of the guiding principle of Noisebridge (simply to "be excellent to each other") and Wikimedia's "Don't be a dick" rule.

The Noisebridge version

"Be excellent to each other is the guiding principle of Noisebridge .. Unlike Wikipedia, Noisebridge takes a positive approach, and avoids the practice of officially enumerating the myriad potential special cases; 'be excellent' is enough. " -- from Noisebridge

Wikimedia's version

"Don't be a dick [an abrasive and inconsiderate person]. If people abided by this, we wouldn't need any other policies about behaviour .. and most behavioural rules are special cases of this one. Implicitly or explicitly calling people dicks is a dick-move: don't use this .. as a justification to do so." -- from Wikimedia

The future of Rule 8

The further explanation and direction for Rule 8 is regularly discussed on our Google Groups mailing list and in the harassment policy online collaborative document. Any conclusions from this ongoing process will most likely be incorporated into Rule 8, and the rules as a whole.