Portrait: LinuxChix Brazil's Sulamita Garcia (Linux.com)

Posted Feb 10, 2007 19:04 UTC (Sat) by landley (guest, #6789)
In reply to: Portrait: LinuxChix Brazil's Sulamita Garcia (Linux.com) by Duncan
Parent article: Portrait: LinuxChix Brazil's Sulamita Garcia (Linux.com)

And we wonder _why_ there are so few women in computers?

Because when Linus Torvalds switched from Alan Cox to Andrew Morton as
his new second in command, the first thing we all wanted to know about
Andrew is "is he sexier than Alan"?

I have no idea what Dave Jones or Rusty Russell look like, I've been on
the darn kernel list since 1998, and it doesn't particularly bother me.
Maddog is old, slightly overweight, and has a bad back. It doesn't make
him any less important.

(Sheesh, and you wonder why Val Henson and Pat Gaughen go by
gender-neutral first names? The women we haven't managed to chase
completely away are _hiding_.)

Portrait: LinuxChix Brazil's Sulamita Garcia (Linux.com)

Posted Feb 12, 2007 3:57 UTC (Mon) by mattdm (subscriber, #18) [Link]

In defense of the original article, if not the above poster, it's part of a series of "portrait" articles which also feature pictures of the men so profiled.

Portrait: LinuxChix Brazil's Sulamita Garcia (Linux.com)

Posted Feb 12, 2007 16:20 UTC (Mon) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link] (2 responses)

I'd say that Val and Pat go by gender-neutral first names because, well, that's the normal abbreviation for their full names. I doubt they sat down and thought `what name should I use to disguise my gender'.

(In fact, to me at least the default gender for `Val' at least is female, so it would be a pretty ineffective disguise...)

Portrait: LinuxChix Brazil's Sulamita Garcia (Linux.com)

Posted Feb 12, 2007 22:06 UTC (Mon) by svena (guest, #20177) [Link] (1 responses)

I don't know about that... ;-)

Portrait: LinuxChix Brazil's Sulamita Garcia (Linux.com)

Posted Feb 13, 2007 14:22 UTC (Tue) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

:))) very nicely done, that is. Funny yet with a much too large vein of truth under the surface.

(The abbreviation thing isn't so true in languages other than English, particularly if spoken rather than written. I've seen `Valdis' and `Balint' abbreviated as `Val' or (in the latter case) `Bal' (very hard to distinguish phonetically). There *are* rare English male names abbreviated `Val', as well: `Valentine' can sometimes be used as a male name, although it's decidedly rare these days, AIUI.)

faces to names

Posted Feb 13, 2007 14:56 UTC (Tue) by man_ls (guest, #15091) [Link] (1 responses)

I've always wanted to put faces to those names we read about, even if they belong to men. If it's a girl (as suggested by the suffix "chix"), and/or good looking, it is a definite plus. That is what the "good" in "good looking" means. If it's neither, well, who cares anyway.

I'm sure pictures from LWN event coverages always get a good audience, if only out of curiosity. It's natural, don't you think?

faces to names

Posted Feb 22, 2007 14:41 UTC (Thu) by Duncan (guest, #6647) [Link]

Exactly. It's just human to want to have a face to put with the name.
Charisma is no small part personal presentation, looking good, physically,
or in an online community, virtually. Like it or not, that plays a rather
large part in how we relate to one another, and photos often enhance the
presentation online, particularly when it's reasonably likely one will
meet the person in "meatspace" at some point, at a conference or the like.
Without photos, such initial meetings can be somewhat uncomfortable at
times, as the entirely artificial virtual image one manufactured based on
community action and reputation alone is faced with its match in meatspace
reality.

If it's someone of the sex one is normally attracted to (to put in as
generic terms as possible), certainly, the chemistry plays a big part in
that charisma. To pretend otherwise is simply to play the ostrich,
sticking one's head in the sand, while recognizing and acknowledging the
issue is the first step toward addressing it, and possibly helping to
correct the imbalance such that it's not such a big deal any more.