Re: Introduction

["Miriam Ruiz" <little.miry@gmail.com>]

2008/12/28 Ben Armstrong <synrg@sanctuary.nslug.ns.ca>:
> Hi,

Hi Ben!!

> For years my goal has been to make Debian desirable for my own kids who
> now number four girls and one boy, and for families everywhere.  Now
> that my boy and half of my girls are teens, I would like to think all
> of them could follow in their father's footsteps and join Debian,
> should they want to.  This project, Debian Women, has some important
> work to do in order to welcome them and other girls (and boys, I think)
> once they come of age.

I totally support that. I have two baby nieces now and I would really
like to participate in whichever activities they choose without having
any extra difficulties for being female. I would really want them to
be able to join Debian sometime, and do stuff here the same way they
would do in any other hobby they might have, without having to be
constantly fighting for their own rights or space, without having to
develop a thick skin or be supergirls for just being able to have fun
doing things. This should be fun, we're doing a (supposedly) universal
operating system, a free one, but we're not doing high level politics.
This is not the place to throw out all the frustrations for the world
or the politics out there, and we shouldn't be the people to be
attacked or accused of what politics might be going on in the world.

I might sound very estereotypical here, but I sincerely believe in the
following. Gandhi said that "There is no way to peace, peace is the
way". This sentence has fully strike me again recently and opened my
eyes to more meanings that were hidden from me before. There's no way
to make anything universal, if universal is not the way. And universal
means all of us, all of them, everyone represented. It's not the
survival of the stronger, it's not a predator's world. If we cannot
find a way to make Debian's development universal, the result will
never be. And I don't my nieces to have to become the "universal
soldier" or to have to let aside their sensitivity, joyfully or
tranquility to be able to enter Debian's development sometime in the
future. That applies to the boys too.

> I really appreciate the different perspectives, ideas and sensibilities
> of my daughters, my wife and the women here who have backed me up in my
> work on Debian Jr.  It has made my work on Debian a richer experience,
> just as the women in my life have made it richer in general.

Different ideas perspectives, points of view, sensibilities and so
enriches any project, and boost the creativity, development and
results. There's nothing as wrong and suboptimal as cultural endogamy.
If we want Debian to succeed, we have to make it somehow a
multicultural place in which all the points of view can be shared.
Asertivity should be encouraged, of course, as well as proactivity,
but that doesn't mean that anyone has to fight against dragons to
share their point of view. If we keep doing so, we'll find out to have
a Debian ruled by the ideas of the strongest, not ruled by the best
ideas.

> So for these reasons as well as in response to the injuries of our
> own members we've been witness to in recent weeks, I lend my support.
> In particular, thanks Amaya and Miriam.  You're both an inspiration to
> me.

Thanks for your support. Really!!!

Lots of hugs,
Miry