women and open source
 

hi.i am just wondering how many women are really into the open source movement.also are women generally as passionate about open source as we guys can be?how can we get more women involved in the open source and free software revolution?and,are how many active members on this forum are women?i am really curious because most ort almost all of the members on most linux forums are guys and ladies dont seem to be much into FOSS as guys do.i am just wondering why.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in General and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves. This is because this is not a technical question and General is a better place for the discussion.

I think a gender poll would find that 95%+ of active LQ members are male. I have some ideas about why that may be, but won't speculate here.

Yes,we are the majority, but women do things with and for open source; here's some info.

We have female members here, not as much as I would like though.

Anyway, Linux,computers,open source... it's not about men or women, it's about a person.

There are lots of generalizations which can be made about men vs. women, and there are lots of exceptions for each one. A favorite "flame war" with my spouse is over statements like "men are like this" or "women are like that".

In my experience, people make generalizations about groups to help justify what they want to do--or what they always have done:
e.g.:
"Men change the oil in the car"
"Women don't go camping."
"Men watch football."
"Women like gardening."

I don't know why I would care how many women are into Open Source.

The reason why there are more men into open source than women is quite simple, and thats because men like computing, and women dont.

its a solitary pursuit, 10-16 hours a day getting one little thing to work. the majority of women dont like that, they dont want to be alone infront of a computer monitor all day. getting one little thing done. They are very very social creatures and want to be around other people.

They arnt being held back, they arnt being failed by the IT industry or education, they arnt being opressed, its just that women dont like the work.

and why is there a need for female groups in open source? the whole point is for everyone to work together. men dont stop women from doing what they want to do, women segregate themselves.

Not all women, ofcourse, there are some brilliant women on these very forums, that know 10 times what I know, and seem to have a natural ability with computers and operating systems, and thats great. they dont segregate themselves and have huge respect here. but lets stop all this nonsense about women being opressed in all areas of life, because its simply not true anymore. alot of the time is just an excuse for failure.

A good example is the recent resignations in the British government. 4 high ranking female members of the cabinet resigned, claiming sexism from the primeminister, when in reality, one had been fiddling her expenses, another had expected a promotion from the primeminister and not got it, and various other excuses, but its easy to claim sexism for female failure. guess what? we're in the age of equality, and that means no excuse from anyone when they fail.

not trying to start a flame war, just a brit speaking my mind, the worlds not going to end ;)

got to throw this in, from my new favorite US comedy..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRQie...eature=related

So.... There aren't any women taking up computer science or software engineering degrees? Then whats all those funny looking creatures doing in my programming class?

Again, go into any computer engineering/science classroom, you'll be shocked that it is not all male dominated. :eek: I know, shocking right!? :eek:

Why? Well why not? How can you say that the OSS community would only greatly benefit by males only?

There wont be as many.

Do you know that there have been quotas set for female applicants to engineering courses? You see, my worry in all this, is that we will not have the best people (men or women) for the job. and china doesnt screw with this PC nonsense.

Did I say that? No. Infact I even praised women that were involved in open source.

You are an example of the kind of brainwashed male that doesnt understand what you are talking about.

You are the product of 50 years of feminist BS.

and just to clarify, if you think women are as interested in computers as men are, then you are crazy.

its so obvious.

but then, feminism has been telling us relentlessly for years that women like the same things as men. <i> they dont. </i>

Uhuh, because I don't have any real negative holdings against women in general like you, that makes me a feminazi sympathizer.

You are also a product of centuries of stereotyping women. By your thinking, you are surprised that there are women in such fields. Remember, even 50 years ago, women were often discouraged from even taking anything that would be considered 'too advanced' for females, such as higher mathematics. 'You don't need to take that, you would be much happier as a secretary'. Or taking any courses to become a doctor, 'you would be much better as a nurse.'

Right, and some how *I'm* brainwashed. Just because I have nothing against women, and don't have the same animosity for them as you do. Grow up, seriously. You are a dying breed.

Nonsense. I praised the women on this forum as highly respected (for their knowledge), with your comment, your just showing you jump to the defense of women when you are not even needed. you are brainwashed my friend.

this wasnt even the question.

this is proof that you (and the majority of men in society) are brainwashed, because I wasnt even talking about the merits of female achievement, I was talking about women blaming their failure on sexism.

You need to question yourself and what you are saying.

You are living in the past (what you accuse me of), we are all equal now.

we all need to be judged as equals men and women. Do you agree?

You sure do like that brainwashing term don't you? Maybe I need a good brainwashing, it is kinda dirty in there perhaps.

You were the one who even brought up the 4 women resigning from the British Gov. claiming sexism, and tried to tie that with the OSS community/females. Two rather very different fields of work, is it not? It seems to me that any chance you get about the subject of women, you pretty much lay out all your animosity. Seriously, get help. Yet I'm the brainwashed one.

Oh, so by your definition I should question my own masculinity right?

Right, but you are saying women aren't judged?

Exactly.

Yes of course. Those crafty beings. After all, why would they need to obey laws written by man? Or go through the same schooling a man must go to, in order to work in the same fields as men do, such as doctors, engineers etc. If you are a woman, you get a free ride. Shit, if I had known that. Maybe I would have had a sex change a long time ago. :rolleyes:

Seriously, you must have had some traumatic events with females at one point of your life, and you should just seek counseling for that. Oh wait, maybe you can't, a lot of women counselors these days. Guess you're screwed huh?

This is such a troll. Who wants to start a pool on the post number when someone brings up the nazis.