I wonder how it's possible to misread it so bad... [LWN.net]

I wonder how it's possible to misread it so bad...

Posted Oct 16, 2007 4:47 UTC (Tue) by einhverfr (guest, #44407)
In reply to: I wonder how it's possible to misread it so bad... by khim
Parent article: Yet another male perspective on women in free software

With all due respect, I think that you grossly miss the point.

In most communities, I have seen maybe 0.1-1% of users be obnoxious.  The result of that has
very little to do with how many obnoxious people you have on your forums and email lists, but
rather what positons in the community they hold.  If they are in positions of power, or are
essentially attack dogs for those in power, they can do a *lot* of damage by driving away
talent of both genders.  If they are largely ignored by the community, or are generally
reminded of manners, then they do very little damage (and may actually serve to provide a
contrast showing how good the rest of the community is).

Secondly, the howto you cite also tends to miss the point.  As long as we try too hard to
attract women in computing, and make a big deal out of it, we are going to have problems with
inequality. The howto makes a number of points which are valid, but I think the overall
premise is flawed.

Basically (as a male) I think that the best way to encourage women in computing and FOSS, is
to work primarily on the architectures of contribution and community in general so that all
participants feel welcome and valued for what they contribute.  This is a real challenge, but
it is the oly way to address the real questions and callenges that this matter brings up.

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