I’ve been on IRC since 1998, there is no public forum I feel more comfortable on.
Over the years I’ve managed to get involved with tech groups that are female-oriented and very female-friendly. From time to time I even allow myself to forget that female geeks are rare. I’m not used to not running into assholes on IRC who freak about about a women being around.
But then it happened. In a software development channel that I’ve been for nearly a year.
< nick_one> yes, my girlfriend knows how to use irssi
< pleia2> my boyfriend knows how to use irssi
< nick_one> pleia2: lol :P
< pleia2> amazing, huh? %P!
< nick_two> Sure.
< nick_two> hehe
< nick_one> pleia2: you are a boy yourself too?
< pleia2> nick_one: no, definitely not a boy
< nick_three> crap
< nick_one> THEN we have a girl!
< nick_three> I thought my girly was the only one to annoy us in here ;P
< nick_three> nick_one: we have had my gf in here before :)
< nick_three> nick_one: she just annoyed $guy and left ;)
< nick_three> thats why I like her ;)
And they wonder why more women aren’t involved in Open Source Projects? As a seasoned IRCer and a user of and contributer to said software I found myself feeling offended and ostracized. I can’t imagine how a woman new to the project would feel. I know I wouldn’t have stayed if that was my first impression of the group.