Women in Libre Software Communities
Some Linux users are dissatisfied with their local LUG for reasons that might include its size, insularity or atmosphere: the online group LinuxChix, which is a worldwide LUG and social group for women Linux users, was founded due to the perceived aggression and rudeness prevalent in other Linux forums. The potential member base of an online LUG, as with other online support groups, make them suitable for people seeking help with more obscure or difficult problems. Some Linux users are part of both a local LUG and an online LUG.
An EC funded study (2006) summarized in the Flosspols report, indicates that about 1.5% of FLOSS community members were female, compared with 28% in proprietary software. The Ubuntu Census Survey (June 2006) also reflects a similar female ratio with 2.4% women actively volunteering in the Ubuntu community.
Other *-women communities are :
- Ubuntu-Women seeks to balance and diversify the Ubuntu Community by actively engaging in discussions with women and encouraging them to participate and become more involved within the Ubuntu community.
- Debian-Women seeks to balance and diversify the Debian Project by actively engaging with interested women and encouraging them to become more involved with Debian.
- Gnome-Women is a group dedicated to providing encouragement for women to contribute to GNOME, a free and open-source Linux/Unix desktop suite.
- KDE-Women is about building a community of female KDE contributors and users.
- Apache-Women has a mailing list for discussions.
- Fedora-Women program aims to provide a forum for the women of the Fedora Community.
Read more about this topic: Linux User Group
Famous quotes containing the words women in, women and/or communities:
“There is a striking dichotomy between the behavior of many women in their lives at work and in their lives as mothers. Many of the same women who are battling stereotypes on the job, who are up against unspoken assumptions about the roles of men and women, seem to accept—and in their acceptance seem to reinforce—these roles at home with both their sons and their daughters.”
—Ellen Lewis (20th century)
“... [the] special relation of women to children, in which the heart of the world has always felt there was something sacred, serves to impress upon women certain tendencies, to endow them with certain virtues ... which will render them of special value in public affairs.”
—Mary Putnam Jacobi (1842–1906)
“I am convinced, that if all men were to live as simply as I then did, thieving and robbery would be unknown. These take place only in communities where some have got more than is sufficient while others have not enough.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)