The strength of your community is the best predictor of your project’s long-term viability. What happens when that community is gradually infiltrated by assholes, who infect everyone else with their constant negativity and personal attacks? Although someone may be a valuable technical contributor, that person will never contribute as much to the project as the many others who are scared away and demotivated. This talk will teach you about the dramatic impact assholes are having on your organization today and will show you how you can begin to repair it.

1. Assholes
are
killing
your
project

2. Community is critical
Contributors
Reputation Results

3. Your ability to get results
depends on your community.

4. What makes a great community?
Most of us
Assholes The best

5. Proving the problem: Gentoo
Assholes removed
Ubuntu launches
Proto-assholes start
receiving complaints
Ohloh

6. Proving the problem: Glibc
Move to Git Drepper leaves
Ohloh

7. What isn't an asshole?
Conflict is good

8. What is an asshole?
Look for
patterns

9. Assholes who look noble on the
surface
● Cookie licking
● Manipulative behaviors for “community good”
● Backchannelers

10. What is an asshole? Two tests
1. After talking to the asshole, does the target feel
oppressed, humiliated, de-energized, or
belittled?
2. Does the asshole target those less powerful?

11. How many good
interactions does
it take to cancel
out one bad one?
Sutton

12. Sutton

13. Sutton

14. Sutton

15. Sutton

16. Nuancing Impact
● Assholes don’t vex equally
● Serious impact on community diversity leads to
further degradation of community health

17. Men tend to
Fight
Pearson & Porath
Flickr: undergroundbastard

18. Women tend toward
Flight
Pearson & Porath
Flickr: noeluap

19. Problems assholes cause to targets
● 48% decreased their effort
● 47% worked less time
● 38% dropped their quality
● 66% declined in performance
● 80% lost time worrying
● 63% lost time avoiding
● 78% became less committed
● 25% quit; 20% of witnesses quit!
Sutton

20. Cascading
effects
amplify
the problem
Flickr: wsdot

21. Problems assholes cause to projects
● Reduced innovation & creativity
● Reduced cooperation & cohesion
● Cost of targets' retribution toward project
● Impaired cooperation from external projects &
people
● Impaired ability to attract
the best & brightest
● Recruiting more assholes
Sutton

22. TCA: Total Cost of Asshole
Team lead
+ Developer relations team
+ Project leadership
+ Recruiting & training new developers
+ Targets & witnesses
__________________
Total Cost of Asshole
Sutton

23. An asshole is incompetent
Flickr: escapo

24. Dealing
with Assholes
a.k.a.
How to Steel
Your Spine

25. How do you fix it?
Flickr: trp0

26. Flickr: kalandrakas

27. Flickr: hashir

28. Flickr: shannonmary

29. How do you prevent it?
Flickr: redefyne

30. Be quantitative
Flickr: koenvereeken

31. Keep your standards high
Flickr: soldiersmediacenter

32. Provide expectations
Flickr: mount_otz

33. Want to learn more?
Read these

34. In the long run,
dealing with assholes
is never worth it.

35. Donnie Berkholz
dberkholz@redmonk.com
Twitter/IRC: dberkholz
Leslie Hawthorn
hawthorn@redhat.com
Twitter: lhawthorn
IRC: lh