[clug] Open Source Software's Dirty Little Secret

[Adam Thomas]

2009/9/10 Jessica Fryer <jessicanumber at gmail.com>:
> I wonder if any of the men would like to volunteer what they think would be
> the advantages of having women more involved in Linux and the Open Source
> community.  What would you like us to contribute? What do you think you are
> missing?

The advantage would be a bigger community with more contributers and
users. More skills and more ideas.

I'd like you to do what ever it is you want to contribute. If you want
to contribute code then contribute code! If there are other things
that you want to contribute then do them too or instead of. Women
should be able to make exactly the same contributions as men. That's
what equality is about.

>
> I have some of my own ideas about why I am personally reluctant to get
> involved but I'd appreciate your thoughts while mine settle into something
> more coherent than the angry rant I've been drafting since I saw Lana's
> message.
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 1:40 PM, Daniel Pittman <daniel at rimspace.net> wrote:
>
>> Michael James <michael at james.st> writes:
>> > On 10/09/2009, at 10:01 AM, Lana Brindley wrote:
>> >
>> >> Without in any way wanting to restart the flame fest we had recently
>> over
>> >> the topic of women in Open Source, I did want to share this article with
>> >> the list:
>> >>
>> >> http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/12068_3838186_1/
>> >>    Sexism-Open-Source-Softwares-Dirty-Little-Secret.htm
>> >> (You're going to have to put the 2 halves of that lobng URL back
>> together)
>>
>> [...]
>>
>> > The problem is ongoing despite the statistics sticking out like dogs
>> balls.
>> > So there is probably something wrong with the approaches taken.
>>
>> I suspect that part of the issue is that this is an old problem, but has
>> only
>> recently become part of the zeitgeist in the free-and-open-source
>> community.
>> Look back a few years and it was a known issue, but it wasn't an
>> "everywhere"
>> issue, as far as I can tell.
>>
>> So, people are now approaching the problem as a problem, rather than mostly
>> ignoring it or simple never encountering the question at all.  I can
>> certainly
>> say that, for me, this was the case five or six years back with some
>> confidence.
>>
>> [...]
>>
>> > Someone researching this could do an analysis of forums with a high level
>> of
>> > female participation contrasted to the FOSS and other male dominated**
>> > forums.
>>
>> You might want to look at the research that has already been done on that
>> specific topic; various studies of participation in the DreamWidth project,
>> for example, focus on precisely this.
>>
>> Regards,
>>        Daniel
>> --
>> ✣ Daniel Pittman            ✉ daniel at rimspace.net            ☎ +61 401 155
>> 707
>>               ♽ made with 100 percent post-consumer electrons
>>   Looking for work?  Love Perl?  In Melbourne, Australia?  We are hiring.
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