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GNOME Reaches Out to Women

Dominic Hargreaves writes "This year GNOME received 181 applications to Google's Summer of Code program, yet none were from women. As a result, they've decided to address this imbalance by launching an outreach program to sponsor three female students to work on GNOME-related projects this summer." Most any science department will tell you that the amount of interest and involvement of women pales next to men of similar age and background. Is this sponsorship a creative way to get women interested in GNOME, or is it merely sexist?

9 of 672 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Women and Linux - My Experience by WilliamSChips · · Score: 5, Funny

    In my experience, Clippy has no redeeming features whatsoever.

    --
    Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  2. Women don't know about linux... by a_greer2005 · · Score: 5, Funny
    because Linux users dont have girlfriends!

    (ducks)

  3. Re:Is this for the benefit of the project... by Rahga · · Score: 5, Funny

    As a developer on a gnome project, I can tell you bluntly that additional women would help. Additional men would help. Heck, additional crack smoking monkeys would even come in handy, as long as they could tell the difference beween a semaphore and a banana*.

    [*]The semaphore and banana requirement also applies to women.

  4. Re:Big Deal by slashflood · · Score: 5, Funny
    I reach out to women all the time. It's them letting me touch them that's the hard part.
    Feel free and reach out
  5. It's a great idea by MrCawfee · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can you imagine how bad it would smell if 188 geeks were in the same place?

    Having a woman may convince 25% of them to take a shower.

    Sadly those 25% are going to be the ones who already have the ability to get a girl, and they'd smell the best in the first place.

  6. Re:Women and Linux - My Experience by faraway · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was going to say; the command line can let you express feelings. But then I caught myself. The only feelings I could express at the command line were male feelings after all. unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes,fsck,fsck,fsck,umount, sleep -- More proof Linux is sexist!

  7. Disneymetrics by nick_davison · · Score: 5, Funny

    Most any science department will tell you that the amount of interest and involvement of women pales next to men of similar age and background. Is this sponsorship a creative way to get women interested in GNOME, or is it merely sexist?

    As even the most basic scholar of Disney can tell you, there's almost always a ratio of one woman to every seven gnomes.

    Of course, Smurfologists would argue the situation's even worse. No wonder the little buggers are blue.

  8. Re:Women and Linux - My Experience by Chowderbags · · Score: 5, Funny

    "It looks like you're attempting inhumane and degrading treatment. Would you like to:

    Learn how to evade international treaties against torture?

    Learn proper engineering techniques for forming a naked pyramid out of prisoners?

    Learn Islamic culture, the better to disrespect it?

    No thanks, I don't need help."

  9. Re:Women and Linux - My Experience by Gli7ch · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pfft. Almost had me for a second there.

    There're no women on the internet! Everyone knows that! It's the place where men are men, women are men, and children are fbi agents.