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Randi Harper a.k.a. FreeBSD Girl was interviewed for the FLOSS Weekly podcast and she said that every minute spent on discussing gender issues in technology is

by Toshio 14y ago

Randi Harper a.k.a. FreeBSD Girl was interviewed for the FLOSS Weekly podcast and she said that every minute spent on discussing gender issues in technology is a wasted minute that should be better spent building free software.

an_actual_man 14y ago
Cool. I've been saying it for years, but because I don't have a vagina, my opinion is considered sexist. B-but feminism is about equality, r-right?
- zachinglis 14y ago
  Aggressive behavior will get you nowhere. ESPECIALLY because of your earlier post. This is not against men having a view. But a woman is far more likely to understand sexism AGAINST women - because of (shock horror) being women.
  - an_actual_man 14y ago
    Expressing an opinion is considered "aggressive behavior" now? Ahahaha, oh feminists, you're so crazy. Anyway, you're saying that being female per se makes someone's opinion more valuable, which is a blatantly sexist opinion itself. Congratulations for shooting yourself in the foot and saying goodbye to what little credibility you had. Next!
    - shardling 14y ago
      I'd like to appeal to HN to just ignore this poster -- nothing fruitful will come from engaging.
    - ktizo 14y ago
      So, you have only just registered an hour ago under a username that is chosen to reference the title of one article, purely in order to troll that article. You should probably not bother trying to argue from a position of credibility really.
laurasanders 14y ago
I very much agree in general. I often feel like people would be better off just getting on with their work rather than wasting their time discussing some of these issues. In this case though I just felt so strongly that the article was patronising and sensationalist that I felt something needed to be said.
ilija139 14y ago
Enough said.
rickmb 14y ago
And if people in every field and every community felt that way gender issues would never get discussed, let alone dealt with. Unless you truly believe that there are no issues, this attitude is just intellectual laziness. Whether it comes from a woman or not is irrelevant.
- nmcfarl 14y ago
  I'm thinking she means what dfxm12 is saying in his reply: Do, Lead, Build something, and Make a statement with the thing you build.
dfxm12 14y ago
Great quote. I try to convey this to people. Melvin Van Peebles didn't complain that blacks were underrepresented in Hollywood. He just went out and made Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (and it wasn't easy). That movie ushered a new era of black cinema. He solved the problem by doing, not pontificating. I'm not saying there's no room for talking, but at this point no one is bringing anything new to the table; I'm saying if you want to solve a problem do something about it. Lead by example.
- trhtrsh 14y ago
  Bill Cosby took another approach. (Both are valid, attacking the front and the flank.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Spy_(1965_TV_series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Spy_(1965_TV_series) > I Spy's contribution to American television and society by being the first series to star a black and a white actor together, > (Culp revealed in his audio commentary on the DVD release that he and Cosby agreed early on that "Our statement is a non-statement" regarding race, and the subject was never discussed again.) As a strait-laced Rhodes scholar fluent in many languages, Cosby's "Scotty" was really the brains of the team. His partner (Culp) was the athlete and playboy who lived by his wits. Then, of course, came The Cosby Show's years of illustrating a non-stereotypical black family, almost never talking directly about it.
  - dfxm12 14y ago
    Speaking of Cosby, he helped finance van Peebles' film.
delinka 14y ago
And every minute spent denigrating another human being about being different than yourself, or different than the group you are with, or for any other reason is a wasted minute that should be better spent building free software. If we would just concentrate on A) getting our jobs done (or rather, just living our lives) and B) not being assholes, sexism wouldn't be an issue.
masklinn 14y ago
That seems to be a very myopic, short-term and self-serving take on the issue/debate.
trhtrsh 14y ago
So is every minute evangelizing for AWS....
peterwwillis 14y ago
I'm pretty sure every minute spent listening to someone who calls themselves "FreeBSD Girl" is a wasted minute. Also listening to anyone who hasn't studied the issue for years is a wasted minute. You're actually wasting two minutes for every minute.

by Toshio 14y ago

an_actual_man 14y ago

Cool. I've been saying it for years, but because I don't have a vagina, my opinion is considered sexist. B-but feminism is about equality, r-right?

zachinglis 14y ago
Aggressive behavior will get you nowhere. ESPECIALLY because of your earlier post. This is not against men having a view. But a woman is far more likely to understand sexism AGAINST women - because of (shock horror) being women.
- an_actual_man 14y ago
  Expressing an opinion is considered "aggressive behavior" now? Ahahaha, oh feminists, you're so crazy. Anyway, you're saying that being female per se makes someone's opinion more valuable, which is a blatantly sexist opinion itself. Congratulations for shooting yourself in the foot and saying goodbye to what little credibility you had. Next!
  - shardling 14y ago
    I'd like to appeal to HN to just ignore this poster -- nothing fruitful will come from engaging.
  - ktizo 14y ago
    So, you have only just registered an hour ago under a username that is chosen to reference the title of one article, purely in order to troll that article. You should probably not bother trying to argue from a position of credibility really.

laurasanders 14y ago

I very much agree in general. I often feel like people would be better off just getting on with their work rather than wasting their time discussing some of these issues. In this case though I just felt so strongly that the article was patronising and sensationalist that I felt something needed to be said.

ilija139 14y ago

Enough said.

rickmb 14y ago

And if people in every field and every community felt that way gender issues would never get discussed, let alone dealt with. Unless you truly believe that there are no issues, this attitude is just intellectual laziness. Whether it comes from a woman or not is irrelevant.

nmcfarl 14y ago
I'm thinking she means what dfxm12 is saying in his reply: Do, Lead, Build something, and Make a statement with the thing you build.

dfxm12 14y ago

Great quote. I try to convey this to people. Melvin Van Peebles didn't complain that blacks were underrepresented in Hollywood. He just went out and made Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (and it wasn't easy). That movie ushered a new era of black cinema. He solved the problem by doing, not pontificating. I'm not saying there's no room for talking, but at this point no one is bringing anything new to the table; I'm saying if you want to solve a problem do something about it. Lead by example.

trhtrsh 14y ago
Bill Cosby took another approach. (Both are valid, attacking the front and the flank.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Spy_(1965_TV_series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Spy_(1965_TV_series) > I Spy's contribution to American television and society by being the first series to star a black and a white actor together, > (Culp revealed in his audio commentary on the DVD release that he and Cosby agreed early on that "Our statement is a non-statement" regarding race, and the subject was never discussed again.) As a strait-laced Rhodes scholar fluent in many languages, Cosby's "Scotty" was really the brains of the team. His partner (Culp) was the athlete and playboy who lived by his wits. Then, of course, came The Cosby Show's years of illustrating a non-stereotypical black family, almost never talking directly about it.
- dfxm12 14y ago
  Speaking of Cosby, he helped finance van Peebles' film.

delinka 14y ago

And every minute spent denigrating another human being about being different than yourself, or different than the group you are with, or for any other reason is a wasted minute that should be better spent building free software. If we would just concentrate on A) getting our jobs done (or rather, just living our lives) and B) not being assholes, sexism wouldn't be an issue.

masklinn 14y ago

That seems to be a very myopic, short-term and self-serving take on the issue/debate.

trhtrsh 14y ago

So is every minute evangelizing for AWS....

peterwwillis 14y ago

I'm pretty sure every minute spent listening to someone who calls themselves "FreeBSD Girl" is a wasted minute. Also listening to anyone who hasn't studied the issue for years is a wasted minute. You're actually wasting two minutes for every minute.