I had a hard time writing this email. I think Code of Conducts are non-essential, a waste of respectful people's time and frankly if you are going to be a jerk, our community will call you out on it. Unfortunately a lot of people don't agree with that. I have over the course of the last year seen more and more potential users very explicitly say, "I will not contribute to a project or attend a conference that does not have a CoC".
Some of us may be saying, "Well we don't want those people". I can't argue with some facts though. Ubuntu has had a CoC[1] since the beginning of the project and they grew exceedingly quick. Having walls in the hallway of interaction isn't always a bad thing.
In reflection, the only thing a CoC does is put in writing what behaviour we as a project already require, so why not document it and use it as a tool to encourage more contribution to our project?