When people tell me they’re too busy to blog, I ask them to count up their output of keystrokes. How many of those keystrokes flow into email messages? Most. How many people receive those email messages? Few. How many people could usefully benefit from those messages, now or later? More than a few, maybe a lot more.
“She’s high-maintenance with multiple personalities (read: distros) and expects you to be a mind reader when something goes wrong when you just met her. No Linux deserves better than that. Linux deserves the truth. Bring on a nerdy, brainy, hacker guy. No less will do.”
Comment by Sandra F
Unfortunately, Sandra is correct. “Linux is still regarded as being a geeky system only.” Thankfully, Linux is a work in progress and rapidly improving.
Those Novell commercials with Linux as a woman are a great reminder that of all three platforms, the ratio of women to men that use each desktop OS has to be the lowest on Linux. Thankfully, it is a problem that many people take seriously. LinuxChix seems like a good resource.
I would be interesting to find out what initiatives and successes Ubuntu, Red Hat and Novell have had getting diverse participation in their products? Particularly Ubuntu because as a community they seem to have the greatest appreciation and understanding of the need and value of diversity.
WordPress has few female contributors. How do we attract more amazing contributors like Lorelle VanFossen, Christine Davis, and Jennifer Hodgdon?
For the broader issue, there are successful organizations like Alliance of Technology and Women (ATW) and Women in Technology International (WITI).
Chris Messina asked about the future of white boy clubs. Jason Kottke is counting gender diversity at web conferences this year.
We have a long way to come.
Update 2007-03-23: Today, I read Glenda Bautista’s Agendacide article from yesterday about Jeremiah Owyang’s list of Asian technology speakers
This past week WordPress development had the most successful bug hunts ever! I spoke correct, plural, two bug hunts. These hunters are the best!
“Find, confirm, and fix bugs, then submit and test patches for those bugs.”
From WordPress Bug Hunts
The other day I linked to Kevin Kelly’s We Are the Web (WIRED August 2005):
These user-created channels make no sense economically. Where are the time, energy, and resources coming from?
The audience.
I run a blog about cool tools. I write it for my own delight and for the benefit of friends. The Web extends my passion to a far wider group for no extra cost or effort. In this way, my site is part of a vast and growing gift economy, a visible underground of valuable creations – text, music, film, software, tools, and services – all given away for free. This gift economy fuels an abundance of choices. It spurs the grateful to reciprocate. It permits easy modification and reuse, and thus promotes consumers into producers.
The open source software movement is another example. Key ingredients of collaborative programming – swapping code, updating instantly, recruiting globally – didn’t work on a large scale until the Web was woven. Then software became something you could join, either as a beta tester or as a coder on an open source project. The clever “view source” browser option let the average Web surfer in on the act. And anyone could rustle up a link – which, it turns out, is the most powerful invention of the decade.
“We”, “people”, “others” are all terms that can be used to skirt accountability.
Take responsibility by representing yourself. Be a person first, not part of an organization or company first.
Northern Voice: the annual blogging conference for everyone held in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
It is sold-out, starts tonight with a fantastic feast, and runs through Satursday. Tomorrow is the unconference Moose Camp and Saturday is the “formal presentations“.
One more sleep for me. Julia and I will take the ferry over first thing in the morning.
If you are going to be there and want to talk WordPress — or anything else, even Flock — say hi to me! I bite, but not too hard.
We really are the Internet.
“At its heart was a new kind of participation that has since developed into an emerging culture based on sharing.”
In the last 24 hrs I have seen 8 comment spam on the feed for photos I have commented on.
WordPress’ Dougal Campbell reminds all us WordPress bloggers to Do Follow.
I consider this a must install WordPress plugin, essential for free culture to collaborate. Basically, what Kimmo Suominen‘s dofollow plugin does is make your blog tell search engines that you think the links that commenters leave are important and part of a healthy Web.
Is there a Do Follow badge or button? Or a no “nofollow” one?
I have updated my list of Computer Clubs in Victoria which I started as a discussion on VLUG’s mailing list.