[clug] Open Source Software's Dirty Little Secret

[Francis James Whittle]

At risk of putting my foot in my mouth,

On Thu, 2009-09-10 at 17:19 +1000, Jessica Fryer wrote:
> Well that's thet textbook answer but are you really looking for more of the
> exact same?

I believe the only reasonable answer to that is "Each contributor brings
their own individuality to the table."
More of the exact same is fine, because the exact same is variety.
Whether or not the gender of the contributor is a significant factor in
this is in my opinion irrelevant, and bears no speculation.  If one can
think up how to do something a different way that works better, that's
great, and the process by which it was considered matters as much as the
individual makes it.

> Are there any areas where a woman's influence might reverse a negative
> trend, for example?

Off the top of my head I can think of exactly one, and written down in
clumsy language it sounds downright awful:  A woman's influence is
likely to attract more women, and therefore a larger contributor base.  

This is not to say that there aren't such areas, just that they are
quite difficult to perceive until after change has happened.

Regards,
Francis