Women and Linux

Hanna Wallach is working on her Ph.D. in machine learning and has a lot of authority to write about both women (because she is one) and computers (because she 0wnz them). She’s written a short post about the validity of defining Linux culture specifically to include those who are not, by default, included.

It’s pretty clear that there are more men working with Linux (and computers in general) than women. There’s a HOWTO that was written describing How to encourage women in Linux that discusses the structural prejudice affirming the male component of Linux use and defirming the female. While those words may not make the situaition clear, it’s easy for us to understand that nerd-dom has created a culture that leans toward pizza, beer, and male activities.

<soapbox style=”standing: on;”>
If we have any desire to let Linux embody the spirit of open-source (freedom and accessibility) and if we care about the half of all people who are female it’s a necessity for us to open the culture we’ve developed as programmers, gamers, coders, hackers, crackers, and distro-jockeys to those who don’t do things the same way we do them - and to allow for the addition of a new group (or gender) to influence our traditions.
</soapbox>

If you’re a woman, here are some great places to find out about Linux:
LinuxChix
Women.Kde.org