Re: Women in FOSS at OSWC II
* Pia Waugh <pia@waugh.id.au> [2006:02:22 03:57 +0000]:
> I presented last week about women in FOSS on a panel at OWSC II in Spain
> (opensourceworldconference.com). It was very interesting for me, because the
> panelists were very varied. One women spent 25 minutes (we only had 5 mins
> each) basically telling off the crowd for locking women out. This left a
> very negative reaction from the men and women in the room, and to be honest
> I felt quite sad to see her talk.
I know you want to focus on the positive aspects of free software and I
commend you for that, but before making too many judgments... did this
woman give any indication on why she felt this way? I, personally, have
not felt the same to any great extent, though I've certainly dealt with
my share of frustration, but I am very curious about what exactly soured
her. There are women all over the world who get turned off in all sorts
of areas of computing/science and while I'm not sure ranting -- which is
what it sounds like she did -- is valuable, I think figuring out what
caused the anger might be worthwhile. I should hope it's acceptable to
share even negative experiences without having to feel like you need to
baby the crowd or you might sour them.
As for the rest of your email -- good job! :)
--
off the chain like a rebellious guanine nucleotide
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