There was a bit of a firestorm over at LinuxChix this week. It boiled down to some decisions that were made by the new coordinator not being popular, many long-time members and volunteers in the group stood up and objected and the whole thing got out of hand. Of course this took hundreds of emails burying us for days. All waiting and hoping it would end peacefully and the group would arise intact. It was a tough time, mostly due to the parties involved being so respected and popular within the community. It certainly was tough for me, I’ve been a member since 2002 and have been running the Philadelphia chapter since 2003. There were a few hours there where I really was quite worried and let myself wonder what I’d do without LinuxChix.
This week has made me stop and realize what a vital part of my involvement with LinuxChix has been for my involvement with Linux. The contacts I’ve made through PhillyChix have been vital to my career, the amazing and brilliant women I’ve met and had a chance to view as role models has been transformational to my whole outlook of the field. The friends I’ve made through it have made it so sometimes I am able to almost forget that women are a minority in Linux. My sphere of friends has changed from being almost entirely male to include just as many women who share my interests and wouldn’t hesitate to take me up on a conversation about Linux and beer. It’s so good not to feel alone, and like such an oddball all the time.
And to be perfectly honest, I don’t think I would have kept up with involvement in the Linux world without LinuxChix. I might have still used Linux, but it certainly wouldn’t have been my career, and I wouldn’t be involved with F/OSS at all. So I don’t care what people who don’t “get” women in IT groups say, groups like LinuxChix can be vital to the growth of a woman looking to advance herself in the field. I’m living proof. I could point you to others who would say the same.
The LinuxChix thing has settled down quite a bit now. The coordinator has stepped down (very gracefully, and she will remain involved with the community – yay!) and talks have started about a new coordinator (or group of coordinators). Damage has been done by this, LinuxChix has lost some volunteers and I fear what some of the people new to the group must think (indeed, some have actually voiced their opinions, and they haven’t been favorable). But I have no doubt that the group will recover from this and learn from mistakes of the past, LinuxChix is an intelligent group of women. Good thing too, LinuxChix remains very important to me. In the end I’m going to just file this whole thing under “growing pains” – the way things were decided in the past isn’t working so well in a group of over 1000 members world-wide (no one knows how many members there actually are, could be several thousand women who call themselves LinuxChix). The volunteers are now hard at work forumlating a plan to move forward.
And while I’m on the subject of LinuxChix, I got around to posting about the Girls Inc Event yesterday morning before work (and emailed mailing lists this morning), enjoy: Girls Inc Computer Installation/Introduction Event