o/` Jimmy Eat World – No Sensitivity o/`
First of all, I have to show off my pretty new screenshot: Screenshot 03.10.03., I switched back to the DarkOne theme (I was using base) that I used back when I had redhat… I missed it %) I also have a pretty new matrixesque background. I used cmatrix -C white in a borderless wterm, took a screenshot, then with gimp I made it really light, saved it as a png, and now it’s an awsome background! And now I can have all my wterms transparent %) My only wish is that I had a bigger monitor, this resolution just isnt good enough!
I am much happier today, I started feeling a bit happier yesterday afternoon because I decided to take control of my emotions and snap out of this depression, it worked %) I had a really nice evening last night, and even got a good (well decent, it’s all relative) night sleep last night! We didnt end up getting out to CompUSA yesterday afternoon, but that’s ok, we’ll prolly head out there today.
So I have some awsome news… a friend of ours in #goddess recently aquired a screening copy of SciFi’s “Children Of Dune”, he ripped it and is now sending it to us! It’s like 5 huge files, but the quality is amazing (it gets black and white in some places, but I believe that is just the quirkyness of the screening copy version). We watched the first 1/5th of it last night, AMAZING! This one might even be better than the first. Unfortunately they changed the actor who played Duncan.. and the one that played Stilgar *sigh* Oh well %) I am so excited because I get to see it before it is actually released! Besides… I don’t have scifi, and I am having a friend tape it for me, so I’d see it even *later* than most people will get to. Currently the movies are inaccessable to me (in a directory on minute that I can’t see) so I can’t take screenshots right now, but I will tomorrow %) Don’t worry, I’ll just give links to the pictures so I don’t spoil it for anyone. YAY DUNE!
So there are several advantages to being a female linux user. I discovered a new one today, or rather realized that it was an advantage and that there was a certain pattern to it. See, it’s very simple for me to discover whether people are REAL unix people, or just newbies… and I discover this without meaning to, they volunteer all the information I need to know this. And it’s always the same, the interaction so predictable I can write the steps:
1. Introduction, somehow my interests in computers comes out (whether through a profile, or just a casual question about my interests)
2. Their use of unix is somehow introduced, usually by some comment made to look like it’s a natural thing to say (I admit doing this too I’m afraid, but I try not to… today this “casual comment” was amazingly stupid, this guy said “excuse my typo’s im on a unix box” … I’m not joking, I wouldnt make up something so unbelievable %)).
3. Despite my intentional, placed, remarks about having a boyfriend they continue to try to impress me, and assume I use windows
4. I tell them I use unix, debian linux… and ask them about their flavor of unix and how they like it
5. Not missing a beat they pipe up and tell me, usually giving away several key points about how experienced and “geeky” they really are. What are a few things I look for? Certain combinations of what distro they use, what text editor, what window manager, their irc client and the words they use to describe certain things, alone these things mean nothing (I know really smart people who still insist on using pico *giggles*), but certain combinations lead to mostly accurate conclusions about experience.
6. The probing wordplay of each other’s knowledge continues to a point where one of us admits we don’t understand the complexity of something. Usually the guy has a hard
er time admitting this “defeat” but they surprise me sometimes %)
Now, comes the most important stage of the conversation, if I am the one who breaks first with my lack of knowledge the friendship almost always stays intact, and most of the time we can spend time swapping help with each other. If the opposite is true, and the guy quits first, he will often leave, saying he has something to do… sometimes the relationship ends, or becomes a stupid charade of the guy coming back from time to time to brag about some advance they have made, but never again having the time to get into a “battle of knowledge.” Luckily these are rare cases, unless the person is a cocky asshole *g* they will hang around and realize that it’s cool for a chick to know about unix, and a friendship develops that includes a lot of helping each other. That’s what I ultimately hope for from these conversations, I want to develop friendships with people who share my interests, I want to help people, and I love having a group of people I can go to when I have trouble without feeling like a complete idiot.
Now encountering a fellow female linux user is sometimes much more brutal. As I am sure I have mentioned before, there is this common breed of female geeks who are very territorial. Being a female geek is cool and unique, you do get a lot of attention… so here I show up, and threaten to take that specialty away! Oh no! While me, and the awsome members at linuxchix.org, are willing to help, and band together as women, these other female geeks are just cruel. Once it is established that you both use unix step #6 is immediate and ruthless, the friendship never is created because that is never her intention, it is always to discredit you, if discrediting is impossible the conversation turns into a geekiness test, games you play, how good your website is, etc etc. It’s horrible %( I wish these women wouldnt be like this. Most often I just back off before it gets too far, even if friendship were possible it’s not worth it, and the brutality of the discussion can only end in one person being humiliated, and that’s really ashame.
I must say again, I NEVER start these cycles, they just happen, I don’t TRY to outwit someone, I dont brag about the knowledge I have, and I have never been a compeditive person, and if someone knows more than me I am eager to learn from them. I have been using linux exclusively for a year now and by no means do I believe myself to be an expert! I assume the same compeditiveness is in most fields of interest, and cocky assholes and ruthless bitches are common in them all… but it really is sad, these are the people who make fields look bad, they are the ones who are exemplified by critics.
Don’t get me wrong, most people I meet through the unix community are really awsome, there are just some that *bug* me. Ok, my generic and generliazed analyzation of unix geeks is done now %)
I am going to go mess around with php for a bit I think *wanders off*

