HOWTO Encourage Women in Linux

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Encourage-Women-Linux-HOWTO/

by IsaacSchlueter • 18 years ago

5 19 18 years ago

axod• 18 years ago

Sorry but this is mostly bs. It's not like anyone knows what gender you are online anyway. Girls and Boys like different things regardless of society. Get over it. We're built differently, and have different strengths and weaknesses.

"We all know that most computer games are written by and for men."

Maybe true a few years ago, certainly not now - "Petz" "hamsterz" "animal crossing" "Wii fit" "Nintendogs" etc etc. Nintendo probably makes more 'girl' games than they do 'boy' games.

IsaacSchlueter• 18 years ago

It's not like anyone knows what gender you are online anyway.

But.. you still HAVE a gender. Just because you don't know who you're offending doesn't mean you aren't being offensive.

We're built differently, and have different strengths and weaknesses.

I tend to agree. Part of me doubts that linux/hacker/computer/nerd culture will ever be 50/50, but I've seen some of the do's and don'ts in the real world.

Maybe true a few years ago, certainly not now

Well, it was written in 2002.

michaelneale3• 18 years ago

It seems that the single-mindedness of the male "hunters" mind suits working with computers quite well. You focus on annoying trivia to the exclusion of all else for a while and that is exactly what is needed. Females seem to be more balanced, and capable of many concurrent tasks, which makes them slightly less likely to allow themselves to be as obsessed as males are with computers.

Of course all this is generalisation and doesn't apply to great chunks of people..

One other thing that seems to happen in the programming language world is testosterone charges debates/arguments. Thats not terribly attractive to 60% of the population, so that can't be helping either.

Prrometheus5• 18 years ago

You almost have to be a hacker to use Linux. Linux demographics will mirror hacker demographics.

cabalamat• 18 years ago

Really? My brother's a businessman, not a programmer, and uses Linux on a daily basis (in fact, he started using it before me). I have lots of friends who use Linux; many of them are not programmers/hackers. Quite often my non-technical friends mention they are thinking of trying Linux (I advise them to go with Ubuntu).

So while many, perhaps even most Linux users are hackers, many are just "normal" people using it to get a job done.

Prrometheus5• 18 years ago

It took days of forum diving to get Ubuntu up and running on my desktop. My wireless networking still doesn't work after following a handful of 20-step installation guides, compiling a few kernel modules, editing a few configuration files and the like. Eventually I gave up and strung a 100 ft. Cat 5 cable to the house router. If I weren't already so determined to use it, I would have given up and spent $99 on an XP disk a long time ago.

That said, Ubuntu works great on my Lenovo laptop, not that you would know that from the gargantuan and labyrinthine hardware compatibility lists.

Linux is hard. It takes commitment or an IT guy.

pavelludiq• 18 years ago

There are probably many women in computing, just not that much famous ones, i guess.

Jem• 18 years ago

I love this part: "Don't treat women stereotypically" ...and yet further up the article: "since they have low self-confidence to begin with".

Total crap. I can't believe this was written by a woman.

grahamg• 18 years ago

this is useless.

HOWTO Encourage Women in Linux

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