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Re: Question to Jonathan & Brian: Diversity in Debian




On Sun, Mar 29, 2020 at 2:39 PM Sruthi Chandran <srud@disroot.org> wrote:
>
> Hello Jonathan and Brian,
>
> I have a couple of questions for both of you.
>
> - What are your thoughts on diversity in Debian?

Debian has evolved a great deal over the past 20+ years to the point that we
now have a commitment to diversity, with a Code of Conduct [1] and Diversity
Statement [2] being two manifestations of that commitment. We now have a
standing Diversity Team and have made active strides towards encouraging
inclusive behavior on our communication forums and during our events. We
actively discourage harassment, which is a prerequisite for creating a welcoming
community.

> - Are we diverse enough?

No. However, answering this question is the easy part.

The hard part is knowing how we can change to become more diverse. Low diversity
is a challenge that faces most of the free software world, as well as technical
careers in general (but to a lesser degree). The biggest challenge, I think, is
that we tend to socialize with and recruit people that are similar to us.

I believe we have taken the necessary prerequisites of recognizing that this is
something we wish to promote, but there is a lot of work to be done to promote
it. The Diversity Team is only about a year old. The first steps of making it
known that Debian cares and working towards becoming an ever more safe and
welcoming community have been taken, but we have a long road ahead of us.

Continually trying to find new ways to be more welcoming, like participating in
Outreach is important. As was the recent creation of the community Team, the
Diversity Team and Statement. Continuing to support activities in regions other
than Europe and the Americas will definitely help.

Overall, I think Debian should be proud of the progress we have made, but still
be cognizant of the fact that we have barely begun the journey.

-Brian

[1] - https://www.debian.org/code_of_conduct
[2] - https://www.debian.org/intro/diversity

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