[clug] Being polite on the list - or: Geek Feminism 101

[Grant Baldwin]

> I think Matthew Garret of gnome fame put it rather nicely at LugRadio
> Live
> 2008 (
> http://viv.id.au/blog/20080723.2001/matthew-garrett-on-ally-work-and-
> the-linux-community/):
> 
> "My major issue with the Linux community is that the Linux community is
> very, very bad at telling people that they're being dicks. This ties in
> with
> what Emma was saying in her presentation earlier - "Don't be a dick."
> 
> You would think that this would be a nice, straightforward rule for
> people
> to follow. But of course, we're all geeks, we're all completely
> socially
> inept.

a) Unnecessary sexualisation in the choice of language.

b) Isn't the "Oh, we're geeks. We're not expected to be good with people"
excuse wearing a little thin? If we want to be considered an open,
unprejudiced, professional area of interest, it is not appropriate to excuse
'unproductive' behaviours as having some organic excuse. 

</$0.02>