Women's Rights & Issues

hunter

(38,310 posts) Tue Oct 6, 2015, 12:29 AM Oct 2015

Something that may sadly resonate with many women here:

Closing a door
Posted on October 5, 2015

This post has been sitting in my drafts folder for a year now. It has never been the right time to post this. I have always been worried about the backlash. I’ve skirted around talking about this issue publicly for some time, but not acknowledging the elephant in the room has eaten away at me a bit. So, here goes.

Here’s the deal: I’m not a Linux kernel developer any more. I quietly transferred the maintainership of the USB 3.0 host controller driver in May 2014. In January 2015, I stepped down from being the Linux kernel coordinator for the FOSS Outreach Program for Women (OPW), and moved up to help coordinate the overall Outreachy program. As of December 6 2014, I gave what I hope is my last presentation on Linux kernel development. I was asked to help coordinate the Linux Plumbers Conference in Seattle in August 2015, and I said no. My Linux Foundation Technical Advisory Board (TAB) term is soon over, and I will not be running for re-election.

Given the choice, I would never send another patch, bug report, or suggestion to a Linux kernel mailing list again. My personal boxes have oopsed with recent kernels, and I ignore it. My current work on userspace graphics enabling may require me to send an occasional quirks kernel patch, but I know I will spend at least a day dreading the potential toxic background radiation of interacting with the kernel community before I send anything.

I am no longer a part of the Linux kernel community.

This came about after a very long period of thought, and a lot of succession planning. I didn’t take the decision to step down lightly. I felt guilty, for a long time, for stepping down. However, I finally realized that I could no longer contribute to a community where I was technically respected, but I could not ask for personal respect. I could not work with people who helpfully encouraged newcomers to send patches, and then argued that maintainers should be allowed to spew whatever vile words they needed to in order to maintain radical emotional honesty. I did not want to work professionally with people who were allowed to get away with subtle sexist or homophobic jokes. I feel powerless in a community that had a “Code of Conflict” without a specific list of behaviors to avoid and a community with no teeth to enforce it.

--more--

http://sarah.thesharps.us/2015/10/05/closing-a-door

It reminds me so much of the issues my wife faces in her profession.

The traditionally "boys clubs" are dispiriting places to work.

2 replies

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Something that may sadly resonate with many women here: (Original Post) hunter Oct 2015 OP

I survived in IT since the early days hollysmom Oct 2015 #1

I used to send in stuff to the Linux community, but they were only interested LiberalArkie Oct 2015 #2

hollysmom

(5,946 posts)

1. I survived in IT since the early days

Reply to hunter (Original post)

Tue Oct 6, 2015, 01:14 AM

Oct 2015

Yes, only 30 years ago, I had to explain to someone why I would not sit in his cubicle to go over something - his cubicle filled with not pleasant centerfolds of women pasted all over the place in full graphic view - nope made him work in my cubicle. and dirty jokes, filled the air, one group of guys decided to call me Debbie instead of Diane when the Debbie does series was hot. In exchange I wore a big name button from my youth and drank from a Diane cup. If they called me Debbie, I could ask them if they were illiterate (for a laugh you know, ugh).

I did it gladly, knowing that I, as an independent consultant, made more than twice as much as these jokers. And then I left them behind when the contract was over, But I will add that I made many wonderful guy friends from then as well sometimes in the same office. It all depended on them, people are a mixed bag.

LiberalArkie

(15,713 posts)

2. I used to send in stuff to the Linux community, but they were only interested

Reply to hunter (Original post)

Tue Oct 6, 2015, 01:15 AM

Oct 2015

in doing it their way. They did not want any ideas or suggestions from anyone who wasn't in their group.

I maintained a small Zenix POS back home where I worked. I got fired from there and moved to Little Rock. I had a phone call from the owner who begged me to come back down as the Zenix machine was about to die. They had called all over and every one mentioned my name as the only one who might save it, but no one knew where I was. Needless there was some satisfaction to fixing the machine.

I have been in Unix since before Linux was a wet dream. I started with Linux with 0.1.16 (I think). And several flavors before. After a while I figured that with all the infighting that they would never have a good desktop. Then I found out that Mac OS X was Unix, a real Unix, a real desktop, probably the best desktop.

I felt like I was finally home.

But yes, the "boys club" is the correct attitude. Maybe not all boys, but the "group" of insiders is hard to break through. It is very rough when the insiders as college grads and you are not. Might as well be dog-shit on there shoes. Even worse is being the lone male in an all female group. You are treated as though you are a child. "Go pick up this" "Go clean up your cube" "Can't you do anything right". That is a rough environment.

I could not imagine being a woman in a coding environment.

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