The Glasgow Interface Explorer Code of Conduct: An Ethical Framework for Marginalized Technologists

The Glasgow Interface Explorer project presents a code of conduct that functions as far more than procedural documentation—it stands as a philosophical declaration of identity and ethics. This collaborative hardware project, designed to create accessible interface tools, anchors its community framework in the lived experiences of its predominantly queer, trans, and plural contributors, explicitly defining the project as a space shaped by those existing at society's margins. While welcoming external participation, the document establishes a clear boundary: outsiders enter as guests in a territory fundamentally owned by its marginalized creators, reversing traditional power dynamics prevalent in technology spaces.

Central to this framework is the reconciliation of seemingly contradictory values. The project maintains radical openness through permissive licensing and public development, intending societal benefit. Yet it simultaneously rejects ethical neutrality, explicitly refusing to enable actors engaged in activities that "spill the blood of the innocent." This stance acknowledges a critical tension—while participants retain legal rights to the technology, the community reserves moral authority to withdraw cooperation and access when tools might facilitate harm. Such positioning represents a nuanced evolution beyond purely legalistic open-source approaches, embedding ethical accountability directly into the project's social fabric.

The code further codifies protection mechanisms with unusual specificity, detailing near-zero tolerance for sexism, misogyny, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, queerphobia, pluralphobia, stalking, harassment, non-consensual interactions, and doxing. Notably, it extends jurisdiction to off-space behavior when relevant and explicitly prohibits sexualized content to safeguard minors and trauma survivors. These provisions collectively establish what constitutes hostile environmental factors, shifting from vague "respectfulness" expectations to concrete behavioral boundaries rooted in protecting historically targeted groups.

Governance structures reflect this intentional design. Project leaders Catherine (@whitequark) and Piotr (@esden) bear explicit responsibility for community stewardship, emphasizing confidential conflict resolution through private communication before escalation. When intervention becomes necessary, leaders commit to proportionate, fair responses while protecting reporter anonymity—a model acknowledging power differentials inherent in maintainer-contributor relationships. The concluding imperative "Reach heaven by violence" serves as metaphorical encapsulation of the project's ethos: transformative change requires forceful, uncompromising action against oppressive systems.

This approach carries significant implications for open-source philosophy. It challenges the notion that technical projects can divorce social dynamics from technological output, instead positioning inclusive community infrastructure as foundational to sustainable creation. By centering marginalized voices not as diversity additions but as architectural keystones, Glasgow Interface Explorer offers a counter-model to extractive open-source practices where underrepresented groups provide labor without authority. Potential criticisms—such as concerns about subjective enforcement or perceived exclusion—are partially mitigated through the document's specificity regarding prohibited behaviors and its graduated response protocol. Ultimately, this code represents technology governance as an intrinsically social act, where tools emerge not from neutral engineering but from deliberately constructed ethical ecosystems shaped by those traditionally excluded from technical power structures.