Fundamentally disagree

Fundamentally disagree

Posted Oct 16, 2007 4:07 UTC (Tue) by einhverfr (guest, #44407)
In reply to: Not just the trolls' fault by wilck
Parent article: Yet another male perspective on women in free software

First, the very fact that we are asking "why aren't there more women involved in FOSS" is a
part of the problem.  I may be male, but I hear a *common* complaint from women in FOSS that
they are constantly asked that question.  My grandmother was a physicist and she felt the same
way.  So by making an issue of it, we create a problem.

Point 1:  Don't let gender matter.

A second point is that there are a *lot* of badly run FOSS projects out there (SQL-Ledger
comes to mind...) where the main developer actively drives away would-be contributors because
he (I don't know of any female cases off the top of my head) doesn't want competition. 

Point 2:  Many equal, competent, and talented voices are better than one.  Have a core
community which debates, deliberates, and decides core project issues.  If you must go with a
dictatorship model, do what Linus did and stay away from commercial involvement.

Finally, every piece of software lives or dies based on community.  This community is three
tiered:  Core management, contributors and advocates, and users.  Focus aggressively on
building the community an make all contributors feel welcome.

Point 3:  Community is what matters most.  Make the most of it.

I seriously think that if we start looking at every individual as someone who can get involved
and  benefit both him/herself and the community by doing so, the question will become
meaningless and it will correct itself.

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