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> Nothing good comes from pursuing "diversity". Eesh. Nothing? Not one good thing comes from encouraging a diversity of people? > People should be judged for

> Nothing good comes from pursuing "diversity". Eesh. Nothing? Not one good thing comes from encouraging a diversity of people? > People should be judged for their character and merit, Yeah, they should. But they're not. Because humans are inherently biased, even when they don't mean to be.

Dalewyn 3y ago
>Eesh. Nothing? Not one good thing comes from encouraging a diversity of people? Nope, why would I want to be deliberately racist, sexist, or whatever else discriminatory? Why would doing so lead to anything good? >Yeah, they should. But they're not. Because humans are inherently biased, even when they don't mean to be. That isn't an excuse, though.
deleted 3y ago
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welshwelsh 3y ago
I take issue with the idea that diversity is about things like skin color and gender. Even if a group is all of the same race, gender, language, income and nationality, they can still be incredibly diverse when it comes to their views and experiences related to free software. If we wanted to encourage diversity in the free software space, we should make sure every type of free software user feels welcome. Not just Linux users, but also BSD users, as well as folks who use Windows or MacOS but enjoy free software like Blender. Of course, free software naturally has a greater appeal to tech-savvy computer users and software developers, which is a group that is overrepresented by Americans, English speakers, men and white people, mostly due to economic reasons. But these characteristics have nothing to do with free software, and there is already a diverse range of viewpoints and user profiles within the free software space.
- seabass-labrax 3y ago
  I agree that those groups are majorities, but I personally think it's more about language than money - or at least, it will be for the generation getting into computing now. You don't need too much money now to buy a computer capable of running modern software. If you can muster 50 US dollars you're basically there. However, English is so prevalent in software that Germans in the industry typically speak to each other in English rather than German!

Dalewyn 3y ago

>Eesh. Nothing? Not one good thing comes from encouraging a diversity of people? Nope, why would I want to be deliberately racist, sexist, or whatever else discriminatory? Why would doing so lead to anything good? >Yeah, they should. But they're not. Because humans are inherently biased, even when they don't mean to be. That isn't an excuse, though.

deleted 3y ago

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welshwelsh 3y ago

I take issue with the idea that diversity is about things like skin color and gender. Even if a group is all of the same race, gender, language, income and nationality, they can still be incredibly diverse when it comes to their views and experiences related to free software. If we wanted to encourage diversity in the free software space, we should make sure every type of free software user feels welcome. Not just Linux users, but also BSD users, as well as folks who use Windows or MacOS but enjoy free software like Blender. Of course, free software naturally has a greater appeal to tech-savvy computer users and software developers, which is a group that is overrepresented by Americans, English speakers, men and white people, mostly due to economic reasons. But these characteristics have nothing to do with free software, and there is already a diverse range of viewpoints and user profiles within the free software space.

seabass-labrax 3y ago
I agree that those groups are majorities, but I personally think it's more about language than money - or at least, it will be for the generation getting into computing now. You don't need too much money now to buy a computer capable of running modern software. If you can muster 50 US dollars you're basically there. However, English is so prevalent in software that Germans in the industry typically speak to each other in English rather than German!