3 ms·

Only 1 in 10 Open Source contributors are women. We're going to change that

6 points by davidgerard 11y ago

r3bl 11y ago
Okay, I understand the goal of this project, but I _really_ don't understand how is this project trying to solve this problem. The website is not very helpful. I see no explanation of what this project is doing exactly. I'm presuming that it's connecting female contributors to projects where they'll feel welcome, but honestly, I can't think of any example where female contributors are not welcome.
- DanBC 11y ago
  They had a similar comment a couple of months ago. https://github.com/CoralineAda/opensourceforwomen.org/issues/6 https://github.com/CoralineAda/opensourceforwomen.org/issues...
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
dogma1138 11y ago
Well apparently they will fix it by now allowing men (sorry people who do not identify them selves as women) to sign up (ah, the irony)... Sigh, if we are honest about this then Coraline Ada is probably not the right person to drive this. She's been in the heart of quite a few controversies and "flame wars" regarding quite a few social subjects: e.g. the whole GitHub code of conduct thing as well as demanding contributions to be removed from OSS projects because some one said something "offensive". e.g. https://github.com/opal/opal/issues/954 https://github.com/opal/opal/issues/954 People like her who are quite polarizing and to be frank create the same amount of social discord as they attempt to resolve on various issues aren't people who can successfully drive these types of projects. On a more technical note this whole deal seems to reek of bad startupness - Make a site, have some vague idea of what you want, make it look very good and sound smart and hope you'll get enough interest and attention which will yield funding while you figure out what exactly you even want to do in the first place. While I can understand that solving 200000 (give or so) years of social sexual dimorphism and role bias isn't going to be easy, having some sort of a road map is quite important to achieve anything and vague politically correct manifestos don't quite cut it. And the fact that they don't really have anything besides a very SJWesuqe code of conduct on the site and a donation button (not to mention the entire WTFness of the "I identify as a woman" mandatory checkbox in the singup page) doesn't really leave much room for constructive development.
Winterflow3r 11y ago
Personally, I do not feel that 'umbrella initiatives' like this would have helped me make my first pull req in a project unless the site plans to offer concrete pairing and mentoring (ie someone on IRC/chat answering questions about how to fork a repo or make a pull req). And yes,this is just my personal experience and most likely varies from person to person. If this intiative helps women who would not have otherwise contributed to OSS, then more power to it! Some great outreach efforts IMHO are: (1) Concrete instructions on how to use version control (2) Encouraging open source communities to produce helpful and newbie friendly 'Contributors' pages (3) Teaching new contributors how to navigate a potentially complex and lengthy codebase (4) Not being 'RTFM' when a newbie is struggling with a pull req (5) Having beginner friendly open source sprints at conferences. These will help contributors of all genders get started.
t0mbstone 11y ago
Seriously... Why is something like this even needed? If you want to contribute to open source, just do it already.
chrismcb 11y ago
This site isn't very mobile friendly. The text follows off the screen and I had to scroll back and forth to read it.
err4nt 11y ago
The Code of Conduct says: > "OS4W.org is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression..." — https://www.os4w.org/code-of-conduct https://www.os4w.org/code-of-conduct But the Signup page says: > "This site is intended to provide a safe, welcoming space for anyone who identifies as a woman." — https://www.os4w.org/sign_up https://www.os4w.org/sign_up And requires you to check a box identifying as a woman to sign up. So which is it?

6 points by davidgerard 11y ago

r3bl 11y ago

Okay, I understand the goal of this project, but I _really_ don't understand how is this project trying to solve this problem. The website is not very helpful. I see no explanation of what this project is doing exactly. I'm presuming that it's connecting female contributors to projects where they'll feel welcome, but honestly, I can't think of any example where female contributors are not welcome.

DanBC 11y ago
They had a similar comment a couple of months ago. https://github.com/CoralineAda/opensourceforwomen.org/issues/6 https://github.com/CoralineAda/opensourceforwomen.org/issues...
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

dogma1138 11y ago

Well apparently they will fix it by now allowing men (sorry people who do not identify them selves as women) to sign up (ah, the irony)... Sigh, if we are honest about this then Coraline Ada is probably not the right person to drive this. She's been in the heart of quite a few controversies and "flame wars" regarding quite a few social subjects: e.g. the whole GitHub code of conduct thing as well as demanding contributions to be removed from OSS projects because some one said something "offensive". e.g. https://github.com/opal/opal/issues/954 https://github.com/opal/opal/issues/954 People like her who are quite polarizing and to be frank create the same amount of social discord as they attempt to resolve on various issues aren't people who can successfully drive these types of projects. On a more technical note this whole deal seems to reek of bad startupness - Make a site, have some vague idea of what you want, make it look very good and sound smart and hope you'll get enough interest and attention which will yield funding while you figure out what exactly you even want to do in the first place. While I can understand that solving 200000 (give or so) years of social sexual dimorphism and role bias isn't going to be easy, having some sort of a road map is quite important to achieve anything and vague politically correct manifestos don't quite cut it. And the fact that they don't really have anything besides a very SJWesuqe code of conduct on the site and a donation button (not to mention the entire WTFness of the "I identify as a woman" mandatory checkbox in the singup page) doesn't really leave much room for constructive development.

Winterflow3r 11y ago

Personally, I do not feel that 'umbrella initiatives' like this would have helped me make my first pull req in a project unless the site plans to offer concrete pairing and mentoring (ie someone on IRC/chat answering questions about how to fork a repo or make a pull req). And yes,this is just my personal experience and most likely varies from person to person. If this intiative helps women who would not have otherwise contributed to OSS, then more power to it! Some great outreach efforts IMHO are: (1) Concrete instructions on how to use version control (2) Encouraging open source communities to produce helpful and newbie friendly 'Contributors' pages (3) Teaching new contributors how to navigate a potentially complex and lengthy codebase (4) Not being 'RTFM' when a newbie is struggling with a pull req (5) Having beginner friendly open source sprints at conferences. These will help contributors of all genders get started.

t0mbstone 11y ago

Seriously... Why is something like this even needed? If you want to contribute to open source, just do it already.

chrismcb 11y ago

This site isn't very mobile friendly. The text follows off the screen and I had to scroll back and forth to read it.

err4nt 11y ago

The Code of Conduct says: > "OS4W.org is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression..." — https://www.os4w.org/code-of-conduct https://www.os4w.org/code-of-conduct But the Signup page says: > "This site is intended to provide a safe, welcoming space for anyone who identifies as a woman." — https://www.os4w.org/sign_up https://www.os4w.org/sign_up And requires you to check a box identifying as a woman to sign up. So which is it?