Address readability comments

CONTRIBUTING.rst

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+doc/contributing.rst

doc/code_of_conduct.rst

@@ -4,30 +4,50 @@ Code of Conduct
 
 .. _conduct:
 
-Like the technical community as a whole, the SmartSim team and community is made
-up of a mixture of professionals and volunteers from all over the world, working
-on every aspect of the mission - including mentorship, teaching and connecting
-people.
+Like the technical community as a whole, the SmartSim community is made up of a
+mixture of professionals and volunteers. Members have different roles and work
+on every aspect of the mission - including mentorship, teaching, and communication.
 
-Diversity is one of our huge strengths, but it can also lead to communication
-issues and unhappiness. To that end, we have a few ground rules that we ask
-people to adhere to when they are participating within this community and
-project. These rules apply equally to founders, mentors and those seeking help
-and guidance.
+Diversity is one of our huge strengths, but it can also lead to tension due to
+differing worldviews. To that end, we have a few ground rules that we ask people
+to adhere to when they are participating within this community and project.
+These rules apply equally to all members regardless of their authority or position
+within the community.
 
 This is not an exhaustive list of things that you cannot do. Rather, take it in
 the spirit in which it is intended - a guide to make it easier to enrich all of
-us, the technical community and the conferences and usergroups we hope to guide
-new speakers to.
+us, the technical community, and usergroups we hope to guide new speakers to.
 
-This code of conduct applies to all communication. This includes: Slack, GitHub
-Issues, StackOverflow issues, and other forums such as Zoom, Skype, Google+
-Hangouts, etc.
+The code of conduct applies to all communication whether in person or virtual.
+This includes: Slack, GitHub Issues, StackOverflow issues, and other forums such
+as Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, etc.
 
 * **Be welcoming, friendly, and patient.**
-* **Be considerate.** Your work will be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision you make will affect users and colleagues, and you should take those consequences into account when making decisions.
-* **Be respectful.** Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behaviour and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It is important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one. Members of the SmartSim community should be respectful when dealing with other members as well as with people outside the SmartSim community and with user groups/conferences, usergroup/conference organizers.
-* **Be careful in the words that you choose.** Remember that sexist, racist, and other exclusionary jokes can be offensive to those around you. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants. Behave professionally. Remember that harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes are not appropriate for the community.
-* **When we disagree, we try to understand why.** Disagreements, both social and technical, happen all the time and SmartSim is no exception. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively. Remember that we are different. The strength of SmartSim comes from its varied community, people from a wide range of backgrounds. Different people have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why someone holds a viewpoint does not mean that they are wrong. Do not forget that it is human to err and blaming each other does not get us anywhere. Rather, offer to help resolving issues and to help learn from mistakes.
+* **Be considerate.**
+Your work will be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work
+of others. Any decision you make will affect users and colleagues, and you
+should take those consequences into account when making decisions.
+* **Be respectful.**
+Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor
+behaviour and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and
+then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It is
+important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or
+threatened is not a productive one. Members of the SmartSim community should be
+respectful when dealing with other members as well as with people outside the
+SmartSim community.
+* **Be careful in the words that you choose.**
+Sexist, racist, and other exclusionary jokes and comments can be offensive to
+those around you. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other
+participants. Behave professionally. Remember that harassment and sexist,
+racist, or exclusionary jokes are not appropriate for the community.
+* **When we disagree, we try to understand why.**
+Disagreements, both social and technical, are a natural part of collaborative
+development. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views
+constructively. Remember that we are different. The strength of SmartSim comes
+from its varied community, people from a wide range of backgrounds. Different
+people have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why
+someone holds a viewpoint does not mean that they are wrong. Do not forget that
+it is human to err and blaming each other does not get us anywhere. Rather,
+offer to help resolve issues and to help learn from mistakes.
 
 Original text courtesy of the `Speak Up! project <http://web.archive.org/web/20141109123859/http://speakup.io/coc.html>`_.

doc/contributing.rst

@@ -4,31 +4,32 @@ Community
 *********
 
 Thanks for you interest in joining the SmartSim community. While SmartSim is
-developed by a team of engineers at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, we benefit
-greatly from community contributions and discussions. Please feel free to reach
-out; we are always open to hearing about your science and engineering questions.
+primarily developed by a team of engineers at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, we
+benefit greatly from community contributions and discussions. Please feel free
+to reach out; we are always open to hearing about your science and engineering
+questions.
 
-How to Behave?
---------------
-We believe it is important for all users and contributors to SmartSim to have a
-great experience. Please review our :ref:`Code of Conduct <conduct>` for
-community guidelines and expectations.
+Code of Conduct
+---------------
+All users, contributors, and developers of SmartSim are expected to treat each
+other fairly and with respect. Please review our :ref:`Code of Conduct
+<conduct>` which highlights what this expectation means for the community.
 
 Need Help?
 ----------
 We encourage and welcome usage questions and bug reports from all users,
 especially those who are new to SmartSim. There are a few things you can do to
 improve the likelihood of quickly getting a good answer.
 
-1. **It is important to ask questions in the right place.** We strongly prefer
-the use of Stack Overflow or GitHub issues over Slack chat. GitHub and Stack
-Overflow are more easily searchable by future users, and therefore is more
-efficient for everyone’s time. Slack chat should be reserved for developer and
-community discussion. If you have a general question about how something should
-work or want best practices then use Stack Overflow. If you think you have found
-a bug or suggest a new feature then use GitHub.
+1. **It is important to ask questions in the right place.**
+While we understand people's desires for privacy, we strongly prefer the use of
+GitHub issues (feature requests, bug reports or Stack Overflow posts (usage
+questions, best practices) due to their discoverability by future users as
+opposed to private communications like Slack or email. Slack chat should be
+reserved for developer and community discussion. Email is preferred for more
+sensitive items.
 
-2. **Please ask only in one place.** Please restrict yourself to posting your
+1. **Please ask only in one place.** Please restrict yourself to posting your
 question in only one place (likely Stack Overflow or GitHub) and don’t post in
 both.
 
@@ -44,14 +45,14 @@ likelihood of being answered.
 
 How to contribute
 -----------------
-We welcome contributions and examples from the community. These generally fall
-under two categories:
+We welcome contributions from the broader community. These generally fall under
+two categories:
 
 - Developments to the main codebases: These contributions directly modify the
 SmartSim and SmartRedis repositories to fix bugs in the code, improve
 the documentation, or add new features. Before embarking on major development,
 please contact the developers first to make sure that your proposal aligns
-with the internal development by opening an issue or reach out to us.  Please
+with the internal development by opening an issue or reach out to us. Please
 follow the :ref:`Developer Guidelines <developer_guide>`.
 
 - Applications of SmartSim: Many of our users build scientific/engineering
@@ -65,7 +66,7 @@ rejecting your contribution
 
 - If we accept your contribution, a SmartSim developer will be assigned to help
 bring your contribution into the codebases by testing it across a variety off
-platforms.
+platforms and ensuring code quality.
 
 - You will be credited as a co-author when the contribution is merged