Today's XKCD seems to sum it up quite well

Something that seems to be missed is how rare people are of any sex who
would enjoy figuring out the differences between Kittler and Otsu
threshold calculations.

I know how rare I am in my interests. I have talked personally to maybe
2-3 people who I can actually learn something from in this field, and I
know how little I know. And there are even fewer women who show the same
interests. I can easily find people on the net who are more knowledgable,
a situation which has allowed free software to exist at all.

Maybe the current atmosphere in free software communities is what has
produced free software. It takes a certain type to spend the time and
energy over years to build a dream. I suspect most software development
shops are production environments, cranking out similar things. Which
attracts a different skill and personality set.

Oddly enough, in an environment where people do what they want, we tend
to see trends that contradict what we think should be. After all the
hundreds of messages in this thread, it comes down to that. Reality has
an odd way.

Derek