[UbuntuWomen] UW article for Fullcircle mag

[Emma Jane Hogbin]

Vid Ayer wrote:
> On Jan 14, 2008 3:53 PM, Jacinta Richardson <jarich at perltraining.com.au> wrote:
>> We can encourage, but we should not force.  If someone comes to ubuntu women
>> with negative experiences of web forums and/or technical mailing lists, and
>> wants to ask us her technical question; I think we should answer it.  By being a
>> safe environment in which to ask technical questions, we make it easier on
>> others to learn how.  Sometimes the question we ask isn't a very good question.
> 
> If we keep redirecting women with a terse "use #ubuntu-motu for tech
> queries or #ubuntu-* for whatever", however appropriate and
> well-meant, its still  discouraging for her (or any male) who drops by
> and wants to discuss technical stuff, help out or mentor women.

Does that happen a lot? I scanned through the last six months of emails
to the list (there weren't a lot). There don't seem to have been any
technical questions to the list...

>>> My vision is changing Ubuntu as a whole, not creating a "safe" space
>>> within Ubuntu Women. I don't think anyone should be ridiculed anywhere
>>> for asking "so-called silly questions" - this isn't just a women's
>>> issue.
> 
> Ubuntu was always a step ahead as far as social community behaviour
> goes.... but UW was inspired by DW and unfortunately we have not got
> the success rate they have had technically speaking.... How many women
> Motu's/core-dev did UW help grow in the 2 years? AFAIK, none. Please
> correct me if I am wrong.  Ofcourse, kudos to Hobsee but I think she
> made it on her own steam. That was my main vision for UW, amongst the
> other general things quoted. That is also not to say that *every*
> woman has to become a Motu, so dont misinterpret my words please.
> Also, the intention is not to create a safe space but to create a
> space which will hopefully _cease_ to exist when women, statistically
> speaking, dont languish in the single digit percentage range
> technically, because Free Software Communities are in the final
> analysis all about **giving back** to the community (which still
> technical skills) and not just consuming a quality technical product.

Excellent!



regards,
emma

-- 
Emma Jane Hogbin, B.Sc.
Founder, xtrinsic
phone: (519) 371-2665
web: www.xtrinsic.com