Red Hat Appoints Robyn Bergeron First Female Fedora Project Leader

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Red Hat Appoints Robyn Bergeron First Female Fedora Project Leader

Posted by timothy on Tuesday February 7, 2012 @04:10AM from the cultural-barriers-be-damned dept.

darthcamaro writes "Red Hat is changing the leadership at the Fedora Project. Jared Smith is out after having been the Fedora Project Leader since June of 2010. In is Robyn Bergeron — who will be the first female leader of the open source project's history. Bergeron is well known in the community as she has most recently been the Fedora Program Manager."

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First Post by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 04:17 · Score: 0

So will she make sure that 2012 is the year of Linux on the desktop?
1. Re:First Post by Grishnakh · 2012-02-07 06:42 · Score: 2
  
  Definitely not, unless she kicks out the stupid Gnome devs that work for Red Hat and makes KDE the premier DE on Fedora. "Linux on the desktop" is always going to be a pipe dream as long as Linux distros keep trying to push these idiotic touchscreen-esque garbage UIs like Unity and Gnome3 on everyone. No one in their right mind would abandon Windows or MacOS for these ridiculous UIs.
s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Tanktalus · 2012-02-07 04:18 · Score: 4, Insightful

The more we focus on the gender of the applicant rather than their skill in doing the job, the more we encourage people to treat others different based on gender. And the misogynists will continue to blame "affirmative action" for their lack of progression in their jobs. Seriously. Congrats to Robyn. I assume she's the most qualified for the job, though I have no idea who she is so shouldn't (and don't) have an opinion on the matter. But to focus on her gender rather than her skills will only focus attention away from what she accomplishes and to her gender. That doesn't do her any justice, women in general any justice, or Fedora any justice.
1. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by noh8rz2 · 2012-02-07 04:22 · Score: 2
  
  I was going to make a joke about the Red Hat Society. But i realized i would be tearing down and marginalizing a woman for just being a woman. A agree with parent, I take on face value that she is the most qualified. I would ask all the lonely dudes on /. to consider this before interjecting thier jokes.
2. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by laffer1 · 2012-02-07 04:25 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  You are completely correct. My wife is a computer programmer and she has to deal with this crap all the time. Yes, we need more women in computing but we also need people to get jobs based on their skill set. I've met a lot of female programmers that can hold their own. Gender should not matter.
  
  --
  MidnightBSD: The BSD for Everyone
3. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by rubycodez · 2012-02-07 04:34 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  you are completely wrong. IT is 97% male. Famous Open Source project leadership is 99.9% male. It IS news, what other distro has woman leading? Answer me that question first, anyone who replies to me.
4. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by lambent · 2012-02-07 04:45 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Okay, I'll take the bait. How exactly does gender affect programming ability?
5. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by tripleevenfall · 2012-02-07 04:48 · Score: 1
  
  What you say is true, but the point does still remain that we shouldn't treat people differently or regard one person's accomplishments as more weighty because of their gender.
  I once heard a female executive answer a question at a workplace townhall from someone asking essentially "How do you carry out the mission of a woman in a position of authority in addition to your regular duties?" She deftly responded that her duty was only to do her regular duty as well as she could like anyone else, and that she didn't think of herself as a woman in a position of authority, but a person in authority who happens to be a woman.
  Personally I don't see why this is news, even on slashdot.
6. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Golddess · 2012-02-07 04:52 · Score: 1
  
  Sorry, but you've not managed to explain why it is news.
  
  "Person gets job based on qualifications" is not news.
  
  "Company hires applicant based on qualifications" might be news, if said company used to put qualifications second to gender/race/religion/etc.
  
  --
  "I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
7. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by vadim_t · 2012-02-07 04:52 · Score: 2
  
  Explain the third paragraph, then. Photo for additional evidence.
  If women have something that inherently makes them less suitable for programming on average, why would somebody have them as the programmers of a military system, when the military (especially in those times) is heavily male dominated?
8. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 04:57 · Score: 0
  
  Since her surname is Bergeron, and not something like Chen, or Seo, or Yamaguchi, Affirmative Action is a pretty safe bet.
9. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by rubycodez · 2012-02-07 04:59 · Score: 1
  
  you are wrong because our society hasn't evolved to that point yet. there are hardly any women in open source leadership at all (a bad thing). it IS news, she may be the first female leader of a linux distro (has that happened to BSD yet)? very very newsworthy. very very surprising. unheard of. unprecedented.
10. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by rubycodez · 2012-02-07 05:01 · Score: 1
  
  in fact, you seem oblivious to fact that in over half of planet earth, women are subjected, unliberated, partially or wholly enslaved, abused. Take the middle eastern cultures, latin ones, east asian ones together, the woman's lot largely sucks in those.
11. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Jawnn · 2012-02-07 05:05 · Score: 1
  
  Agreed. If Robyn wants to crow about that distinction, more power to her, but the rest of us probably shouldn't care which bathroom a project leader uses.
12. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 05:14 · Score: 0
  
  "Red Hat Appoints Robyn Bergeron Robyn Bergeron as Fedora Project Leader"?
  I can't believe nobody has pointed this out this yet.
13. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 05:14 · Score: 0, Insightful
  
  Why do we need more women in computing? Perhaps you mean we need more talented people?
14. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Belial6 · 2012-02-07 05:15 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  The differences are not as wide or as deep as you would think. Your example of being visible to kids at an early age is simply wrong. Kids are terrible at identifying gender. They look at the most obvious and superficial characteristics. Put a man in a dress and you can confuse kids. Get that hairy chick to stop waxing her upper lip. Heck, just have a guy grow his hair out, and a lot of kids will get confused.
  
  Even adults have a hard time telling the difference. Find out if YOU can tell the difference as easily as you think you can. http://www2.b3ta.com/femaleorshemale/
  
  We also don't need more women in programming. We just need people like you to stop suggesting that we hire based on gender.
15. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 05:21 · Score: 0
  
  I could give a fuck what's between your legs.
  I want the best person for the job.
  Since you jerkwads are making such a big deal about this, maybe we shouldn't take it at face value that she's the best person for the job and start asking if its just a publicity stunt?
16. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by jjohnson · 2012-02-07 05:31 · Score: 1
  
  Like the stereotypes that women aren't capable of practicing law or medicine?
  
  --
  Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
17. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by MetalliQaZ · 2012-02-07 05:32 · Score: 1
  
  Agreed.
  Another thing is the separatoin of the sexes for awards. Now, in the Olympics, this makes perfect sense. Men grow bigger and stronger, so the spirit of competition demands that runners and swimmers compete within their sex. Now, what about the Oscars? Why do they have a category for Best Female Lead and Best Male Lead? Men are not naturally better or worse than women at acting. There should just be Best Actor.
  Same with project management. Honestly, why should I care if it's a female? Is Red Hat's organization so sexist that her appointment is a marvelous accomplishment? I assume it isn't.
  --d
  
  --
  "Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
18. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Beeftopia · 2012-02-07 05:35 · Score: 1
  
  No relation of course, genetically or content-wise, to Harrison Bergeron.
19. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Dog-Cow · 2012-02-07 05:36 · Score: 1
  
  Why is it bad that there are few women in leadership positions in open source?
20. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by ed1park · 2012-02-07 05:39 · Score: 0
  
  Good point. Now if she is hot, has a sextape/nudie pics/reality tv show, then it would most definitely be news!
21. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by jjohnson · 2012-02-07 05:39 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  What you say is true
  No, it's not. When female participation in law, medicine, or business was near zero, the same tired stereotype existed of women being unable to work in those fields for whatever reason--too emotional, not logical enough, whatever.
  Now women exist in large and growing numbers in all three areas, as legal and social barriers to them were dropped (or, more often, shoved out of the way by women we now admire). The stereotype is viewed as a quaint bit of wrongheadedness.
  
  --
  Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
22. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 05:43 · Score: 0
  
  Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has a female CEO. So, to answer your question, the leader of the most widely used distro in the world is a woman.
23. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by rubycodez · 2012-02-07 05:43 · Score: 1
  
  because it is yet another symptom of a terrible, ancient problem in this world of how women are treated
24. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by robthebloke · 2012-02-07 05:46 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  But "stereotypes" exist for a reason: they have a basis in reality.
  Welsh people shag sheep.
  Mexicans are lazy.
  French people wear garlic.
  Irish people are thick
  
  Clichés are based in reality, but stereotypes tend to be rooted in prejudice. FWIW, I used to teach C++ to fairly mixed classes (~40% female). I'm sorry to break it you, but women are just as good at men at programming. There is one big difference though. Men don't have to put up with absurd comments such as: "Oh sure. She's a very talented engineer who's probably more than capable of doing the job, but she is a women, and we all know that stereotypes are true right?". Do you not see the hypocrisy in your own post there? Women find the idea of working in the software industry extremely off putting, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why.....
25. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by rubycodez · 2012-02-07 05:47 · Score: 1
  
  the CEO is not leader of the distro. Mark is still the project sponsor and proclaimed SADFL
26. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by rilian4 · 2012-02-07 05:49 · Score: 1
  
  Hear Hear! Well said. I say the same about race as well. The more it is focused on, the more it will remain a problem. Stop taking race into consideration in any way. If you continue to give consideration(positive or negative) to someone based on their race (any race), you are promoting racism by definition.
  It's much the same with gender with the exception that a few jobs requiring physical strength (fire-fighter for example) are more difficult for the average female to perform (such as having to lift an unconscious person as dead-weight and carry them out of a burning building. Most women just don't have the strength to do it. If they show they have the strength, then more power to them).
  
  --
  
  ...quicker, easier, more seductive the darkside is...but more powerful, it is not.
27. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Eevee · 2012-02-07 05:57 · Score: 1
  
  Lets try it.
  :i
  Red Hat Appoints Robyn Bergeron First Female Fedora Project Leader<esc>
  :s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/
  Hmm, I get:
  Red Hat Appoints Robyn Bergeron Robyn Bergeron as Fedora Project Leader
  Perhaps you should try
  :s/First Female/as/
28. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Golddess · 2012-02-07 06:01 · Score: 1
  
  in fact, you seem oblivious to fact that in over half of planet earth, women are subjected, unliberated, partially or wholly enslaved, abused.
  
  "Company hires applicant based on qualifications" might be news, if said company used to put qualifications second to gender/race/religion/etc.
  s/company/country/i
  
  So no, I'm not oblivious as you seem to think I am. I know full well there are places on earth where women are treated like crap. One of those places suddenly treating women with respect would be news. However, I am unaware that Red Hat was one of those places that treat women like crap.
  
  --
  "I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
29. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by crow_t_robot · 2012-02-07 06:06 · Score: 0
  
  Outliers are not the rule. That would be like claiming that since there is one women in the world that can run a 14min 5k that the bar should be raised for all women for competitive scoring.
30. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by AdamWill · 2012-02-07 06:12 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  It was rarely noted at the time, but Anne Nicolas was the head engineer (her job title changed a few times, but she was always in overall charge of all the engineers actually working on the distribution and hence arguably 'in charge' of the distro itself) at Mandriva for quite a while.
31. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Ihmhi · 2012-02-07 06:29 · Score: 0
  
  To qualify for a lot of federal contracts, I'm pretty sure you need to have a certain percentage of minority and female workers, respectively. Even if you don't though, they try to get minority or female hires (even if they're not the most qualified candidate) for good PR.
  
  --
  Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
32. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Grishnakh · 2012-02-07 06:44 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, your question should be, how does gender affect managerial ability? After all, she's going to be the project leader, not just a programmer. And the answer here is that women generally make much better managers than men, so this is probably a good move. People who are excellent programmers usually tend to have very poor social skills and make terrible managers.
33. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Ihmhi · 2012-02-07 06:45 · Score: 1
  
  "Company hires applicant based on qualifications" might be news, if said company used to put qualifications second to gender/race/religion/etc.
  To be fair, she didn't meet the "Cheeto-stained neckbeard" job requirement to be the head of a Linux distro, but they hired her anyway.
  
  --
  Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
34. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Grishnakh · 2012-02-07 06:48 · Score: 1
  
  Now women exist in large and growing numbers in all three areas, as legal and social barriers to them were dropped (or, more often, shoved out of the way by women we now admire).
  However, there's also women who got into those fields that we don't admire at all, and it wasn't because they were "too emotional" or some such. For example, look at Carly Fiorina. Holy crap, what a horrible and disastrous CEO she was. Anyone who admires that woman is an idiot. Obviously, there's been plenty of horrible male CEOs too (like Bob Nardelli of Home Depot), so all this proves is that women aren't any worse than the men they've replaced, but don't admire them just because they're female either, because they can be just as evil and greedy as men. Another woman in a high-up position who should be spat on, rather than admired: Janet Napolitano, head of DHS and TSA.
35. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by lambent · 2012-02-07 06:53 · Score: 1
  
  Excellent points.
  Also, thanks for actually addressing the topic at hand.
36. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Grishnakh · 2012-02-07 06:58 · Score: 1
  
  What's really scary is that I got 75% (12/16) on your quiz, but on the sister quiz here, where you try to identify girl and boy cats, I got 14/16 correct. I'm not even sure how I can tell the boy and girl cats apart just by looking at their faces, but apparently I can.
37. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Grishnakh · 2012-02-07 07:01 · Score: 1
  
  Irish people are thick
  Definitely a wrong stereotype. All the Irish people I've met are quite thin. It's us Americans that are thick.
  Women find the idea of working in the software industry extremely off putting, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why.....
  Maybe it's because of the age discrimination, the fact that you can't get a job once you're over 40, the long working hours, the salary compression, the unrealistic schedules, having to deal with all kinds of crap code, etc.
38. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Grishnakh · 2012-02-07 07:04 · Score: 1
  
  ...in over half of planet earth, women are subjected, unliberated, partially or wholly enslaved, abused. Take the middle eastern cultures, latin ones, east asian ones together, the woman's lot largely sucks in those.
  Watch out, some liberals are going to call you a "RACIST!" for saying anything negative about those cultures, and that those cultures are better than western cultures.
39. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Bogtha · 2012-02-07 07:06 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Famous Open Source project leadership is 99.9% male. It IS news, what other distro has woman leading?
  
  Albinos are even rarer project leaders than women. If an albino happened to become project leader of a "famous" open source project, would you expect to see similar "Holy shit, an albino!" news stories with prominent mention of it in headlines? I don't think that would happen. Certainly in the comments, but not in the headline. This isn't just about how rare female project leaders are.
  
  --
  Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
40. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Grishnakh · 2012-02-07 07:07 · Score: 1
  
  Men grow bigger and stronger, so the spirit of competition demands that runners and swimmers compete within their sex.
  Yes, because the men could very well lose to the women in running or cycling, due to their excessive upper-body mass that contributes nothing to locomotion. Men are only 'bigger and stronger" when you look at the upper body; women frequently have longer legs proportionately than men.
41. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Grishnakh · 2012-02-07 07:09 · Score: 1
  
  Yep, that's why it should be based on physical requirements, rather than the presence or absence of certain sex organs. If a woman can lift an unconscious person and pass the physical requirement, she should be allowed to apply for the job. Most women don't have the necessary upper-body strength. But that doesn't mean they all don't.
42. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Feyr · 2012-02-07 07:39 · Score: 2
  
  "And the answer here is that women generally make much better managers than men"
  that's another stereotype that's patently false
  i've had plenty of more than useless female manager
  i've also had really bad men manager
  most studies never account for actual skill level when they compare the two, or they have an agenda to propel.
  of course a good "female" manager is going to be better than a bad "male" one. this has nothing to do with gender and all to do with skill, experience and individual traits
  i wish all the best to robyn here though i've never heard of her. the only question that matter is "is she qualified for the job?" and the summary seem to imply that yes, she is
43. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Duncan+J+Murray · 2012-02-07 07:49 · Score: 1
  
  Jane Silber, CEO of canonical.
  I think it's news.
44. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by vadim_t · 2012-02-07 08:04 · Score: 2
  
  Why would it be an outlier? Why would the military consider women for that position if they thought they might be unsuitable in any manner? To appease the yet inexistent Women's liberation movement? Also it's not an outlier, search for photos of computers of the same era, and you find quite a lot of women.
  My guess is that it's much simpler. Designing the ENIAC was a man's job. Perhaps programming it was the unglamorous chore, a sort of maintenance task somewhat akin to sweeping the floor. Or maybe because they saw similarity with a switchboard operator.
  Later, programming gained prestige, so obviously men wanted those jobs and would have the advantage.
45. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 08:07 · Score: 0
  
  Totally agree. This article makes it sound like "gee, even a *woman* can do this" which is a stupid statement.
46. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 08:42 · Score: 0
  
  You seem oblivious to the fact that women have it bad in those places because people have it bad in those places. This is a case of shitty countries with no respect for human rights, not a case of subjugation of women.
  I read a news story where a woman was stoned to death for adultery. Great example of the abuse of women, right? Wrong. Somebody pointed out a local article about the same stoning to me. Turns out both the man and the woman were stoned to death. The articles in the western media only bothered to mention the woman.
  Have you read the Global Gender Gap report detailing how oppressed women are? Their index starts at 1 and penalises countries for discrimination against women. Discrimination against men is not counted. A country could literally murder all men and all baby boys at birth and score a perfect 1 for equality.
  Perhaps you've heard harrowing reports from the UN about women being raped in South Africa. The people behind the reports restricted the definition of rape to only include female victims. Men are raped almost as often as women but aid agencies turn them away because they aren't women.
  If you are concerned with the enslavement of women across the globe, you are probably concerned with sex trafficking. In reality, sex trafficking is hugely exaggerated. The majority of trafficked people are unpaid labour, not rape victims, and a huge percentage of them are men.
  I could go on and on. Food being handed out only to women, ignoring starving men. Microloans only being given to women. Articles about the rape of women venturing outside of their villages, where if you dig, you find out that the reason they risk leaving their villages is because if their husbands go they will be murdered.
  You seem to think that women have it particularly bad. The simple fact of the matter is that where there are human rights abuses, it affects both men and women in devastating ways. Unfortunately, due to attitudes like yours, all the focus goes towards the women, and it becomes so much more difficult to get men the help they need, the help that would be available to them if they were women. Please stop misleading people into thinking this is a problem for women. It is a problem that affects both genders.
47. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Arancaytar · 2012-02-07 09:25 · Score: 1
  
  I agree that women holding leadership positions in open source tech should (and almost certainly will, eventually) be common-place enough to be unremarkable and not newsworthy. In the meantime, it is helpful to point out/celebrate steps on that road. Remarking on Bergeron being the first female project leader does not imply she was picked for that reason, so the misogynists' "affirmative action" claims would simply look silly.
  We shouldn't avoid drawing attention to the gender issue just because we feel it shouldn't be an issue. It's not going to go away on its own soon.
48. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 10:19 · Score: 0
  
  Do you mean "Red Hat Appoints Robyn Bergeron Robyn Bergeron as First Female Fedora Project Leader"? I'm sure that's how the replacement is interpreted...
49. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 10:30 · Score: 0
  
  -____- Didn't mean to put the 'First Female' into that line. Curses!
50. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 11:00 · Score: 0
  
  Yes, because the men could very well lose to the women in running or cycling, due to their excessive upper-body mass that contributes nothing to locomotion
  So why is it that this never, ever happens at the highest levels?
51. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Tanktalus · 2012-02-07 11:02 · Score: 1
  
  I don't know if you've noticed, but a lot of the misogynists likely don't care about looking silly, as long as they appeal to each other, and, as a voting block, to their government representatives at all levels (municipal, state/provincial, federal/national, and any others that their jurisdiction may have). And, in my experience, it is awfully hard to tell the difference between "promoted on merit" and "promoted for reasons other than merit." Is she sleeping with the boss? Probably not in public. And rumours likely wouldn't get past the corporate doors, so us outsiders would be unlikely to hear about it. I'm not claiming that is the case, merely pointing out that we can't tell the difference. Was Robyn promoted because she's the best person they could find for the job (yay for her), or because she's a convenient woman available for the job (boo for equality)? We don't know. I don't see the affirmative action claim as implausible, I merely hope it's not the case. I have no evidence one way or the other, and we're never going to be told. Sure, RH can deny it, but they have to deny it even if it were true, so that doesn't tell us anything.
  A press release stating "RedHat is proud to announce Robyn Bergeron as the Fedora Project Leader" is fine. That's all Fedora users and the Fedora community cares about anyway - who is in charge. Their gender is irrelevant. Now, if the position was "Women in Fedora Liaison" ... that would be a position that gender matters.
  For the record, since I don't have any evidence, I have no opinion either way. However, that's the problem. Since I have no evidence, all I can go on is whatever I see. And since what I see is promotion of her gender, I get the impression that this had some weight in the decision. If it had no weight in the decision, as a techie, I wonder why it was brought up. If it wasn't important, it's not interesting, and there's no reason to trumpet it. Trumpeting the unimportant smacks of politics, in what should be a politics-free job change.
52. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Grishnakh · 2012-02-07 11:17 · Score: 1
  
  Sure it does. There's plenty of evidence that women are better-suited to long-distance endurance running and other events than men are.
53. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 11:41 · Score: 0
  
  Obligatory.
  I of course am posting this tongue-in-cheek... I for one welcome our new female overlord!
54. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 12:45 · Score: 0
  
  Absolutely love how western herpderps can comment on other cultures, without an ounce of understanding. Morons.
55. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by KingAlanI · 2012-02-07 13:07 · Score: 1
  
  Definitely a wrong stereotype. All the Irish people I've met are quite thin. It's us Americans that are thick.
  To me, he obviously meant that the stereotype was 'thick' as in stupid/slow/something like that.
  Though I do like your sense of humor; I've done that myself - see word X used in a certain way, and reply as if word X was used in another manner.
  
  --
  I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
56. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by ed1park · 2012-02-07 13:08 · Score: 1
  
  My comment was meant tongue in cheek and mocking the "why is this news" remarks. Mark insightful, thank you. :)
57. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Grishnakh · 2012-02-07 13:24 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, I realize "thick" is a Britishism for "stupid", I just thought I'd play around with it a little. :-)
  I'm just disappointed I didn't get any funny mods for that one.
58. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by KingAlanI · 2012-02-07 13:34 · Score: 1
  
  okay, thanks for making it clear that you were joking. you might not have been, and other people may or may not have figured it out. heh, a 2x2 matrix.
  
  --
  I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
59. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by jrumney · 2012-02-07 13:39 · Score: 2
  
  Albinos are extremely rare. Women are over 50% of the population. A lack of Albinos in leadership roles in open source projects is not in any way comparable to a lack of women in those roles.
60. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by retchdog · 2012-02-07 15:16 · Score: 1
  
  since the gender emphasis seems to have been added exclusively by slashdot, you can stop weighting it, unless you think slashdot controls redhat management. i'm sure you'll find something else to fuel your paranoia though.
  
  --
  "They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
61. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 15:45 · Score: 0
  
  The more we focus on the gender of the applicant rather than their skill in doing the job, the more we encourage people to treat others different based on gender. And the misogynists will continue to blame "affirmative action" for their lack of progression in their jobs.
  Is she hot? No fatties!
62. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 20:45 · Score: 0
  
  which is why getting a Hispanic lesbian would do wonders for an organization's quotas - they can fill up a woman's slot, a hispanic slot, and if it comes down to it, a gay slot as well.
63. Re:s/First Female/Robyn Bergeron as/ by Larryish · 2012-02-08 02:13 · Score: 1
  
  OSX is based on UNIX, and Steve Jobs was kind of a girly-man.
  Does that count?
Why is gender important? by crath · 2012-02-07 04:18 · Score: 5, Insightful

And what is the point of putting her gender in the headline? Are women generally less capable than men and so it's a miracle that she made it to project leader? I don't believe that is the case; so, why emphasise her gender? This is a non-story and shouldn't have made it to the front page of /.
1. Re:Why is gender important? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 04:29 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Are women generally less capable than men.
  No, but they are outnumbered 50:1 by men, so yeah, having a girl as a project leader *is* kinda big news.
2. Re:Why is gender important? by sohmc · 2012-02-07 04:39 · Score: 1
  
  It's important only so far as that the public should know that she's the first woman to do (fill in the blank).
  Just like Barack Obama was the first black man to (fill in the blank).
  It's PR. They have to make things interesting.
  
  --
  We don't live in Shouldland.
3. Re:Why is gender important? by synapse7 · 2012-02-07 04:40 · Score: 2
  
  and besides, the glass ceiling is only 3 atoms thick now.
4. Re:Why is gender important? by Presto+Vivace · 2012-02-07 04:55 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Because it is news when a women breaks the gender barrier in IT. Just read this thread, or any thread on Slashdot, the hostility to women and belittling our achievements is an very ugly part of technology culture. Something wonderful just happened. Let's celebrate it.
5. Re:Why is gender important? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 05:02 · Score: 0
  
  Citation needed.
6. Re:Why is gender important? by dkleinsc · 2012-02-07 05:10 · Score: 1
  
  Well, it's a non-story in the sense of turning it into a discussion of gender in IT, when we should be doing is celebrating the fact that Robyn really knows her stuff (at least, based on a few interactions I had with her at a FUDCon a while back) and got a good and well-deserved promotion.
  
  --
  I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
7. Re:Why is gender important? by Belial6 · 2012-02-07 05:24 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  About as big of news as having a red head as a project leader.
8. Re:Why is gender important? by jjohnson · 2012-02-07 05:41 · Score: 1
  
  Her gender is important because technology is one of the last areas where sexism is respectable and defended. In business, law, and medicine, the same tired stereotypes used to be operative, and are no longer because women like Robyn Bergeron stuck it out.
  Her gender is news because it's a sign of progress.
  
  --
  Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
9. Re:Why is gender important? by jjohnson · 2012-02-07 05:42 · Score: 1
  
  Hear hear.
  
  --
  Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
10. Re:Why is gender important? by crow_t_robot · 2012-02-07 06:03 · Score: 1
  
  Are women generally less capable than men
  Yes. Look at the physical fitness standards and scoring for the military if you don't believe so.
11. Re:Why is gender important? by AdamWill · 2012-02-07 06:15 · Score: 1
  
  Fortunately, being FPL doesn't involve a whole lot of 30 mile forced marches with heavy backpacks.
12. Re:Why is gender important? by garrettg84 · 2012-02-07 06:31 · Score: 1
  
  Why is gender only important for high paying and high performance work? Why aren't we crying and complaining about the number of male maids or female garbagemen (even the title shows the gap)? There may be gender gaps based on preference. Nobody ever mentions this. Why do we NEED more women engineers, construction workers, or tech workers? Maybe the women DON'T WANT THOSE JOBS. Stop trying to equalize something that has already found it's equilibrium.
  
  --
  -g
13. Re:Why is gender important? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 06:55 · Score: 0
  
  If we're sticking with sterotypes here (nerd posting on a nerd site) I can assume that you are a less capable human being since you most likely don't meet physical fitness standards?
I'm Glad That's Out of the Way by walkerp1 · 2012-02-07 04:19 · Score: 5, Insightful

So next time we don't have to wonder about the motivation of the first X to do Y when Y has no performance correlation to X.
1. Re:I'm Glad That's Out of the Way by bieber · 2012-02-07 06:43 · Score: 1
  
  Right, because it's not like abhorrent attitudes towards X in the Y community have had anything to do with the colossal under-representation of X in Y, and seeing Xs begin to break through those barriers is a big deal or anything. Today I learned just how thoroughly ignorant the average Slashdotter is of his male privilege...
2. Re:I'm Glad That's Out of the Way by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 07:03 · Score: 0
  
  And a Project Lead position in an open source project is like the pinnacle of female accomplishment in a male world? Women have been CEOs of the largest tech companies (Lucent, HP, IBM, Yahoo etc), that was significant this is not.
  I seriously hope your last name actually is Bieber and you are not using your handle as a tribute to that silly kid singer.
New logo by Rik+Sweeney · 2012-02-07 04:19 · Score: 1, Troll

I think the red fedora is about to become a pink glittery one :P

--
Summation 2
1. Re:New logo by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 04:25 · Score: 1
  
  She's a woman, not a Brony.
2. Re:New logo by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 06:36 · Score: 0
  
  These aren't mutually exclusive. The Brony label has nothing to do with gender.
3. Re:New logo by KingAlanI · 2012-02-07 13:24 · Score: 1
  
  uh, brony?
  
  --
  I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
And a ton of other jobs by vlm · 2012-02-07 04:23 · Score: 2

Bergeron is well known in the community as she has most recently been the Fedora Program Manager
And a ton of other simultaneous jobs listed at:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Rbergero
From the outside, I've never heard anything bad about her. So, good luck!

--
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Slow news day? by ChunderDownunder · 2012-02-07 04:24 · Score: 3, Insightful

Agreed, I work in IT and have had several top level managers who are female. It's the 21stC and should be no surprise that a woman should have risen through the ranks of Red Hat.
1. Re:Slow news day? by Grishnakh · 2012-02-07 07:11 · Score: 1
  
  I think what's news is not that it's a female in IT, but that it's a female in an open-source project. The male:female ratio in OS projects is even worse than IT in general, and women are even more rare there than in other software fields.
2. Re:Slow news day? by ChunderDownunder · 2012-02-07 09:38 · Score: 1
  
  Sure, but Fedora is a Red Hat sponsored project. Thus it's only natural a Red Hat employee take the reins. I'm not saying we shouldn't celebrate her appointment, clearly she's risen through the ranks.
  Nevertheless, to open source it may like admitting female priests in Rome but in the context of a work environment it's hardly unusual and why I question why it's headline news.
  A bigger question would be why outside of employer sponsored projects, participation rates are so skewed in favour of blokes.
3. Re:Slow news day? by Grishnakh · 2012-02-07 10:56 · Score: 1
  
  Sure, but Fedora is a Red Hat sponsored project. Thus it's only natural a Red Hat employee take the reins.
  Yes, but RH is an open-source company. I don't know for sure, but I'll bet if you got the employee records for Red Hat and for Microsoft, you'd find a greater ratio of female programmers at MS than at RH.
In the name of science by SpaghettiPattern · 2012-02-07 04:24 · Score: 2

In the name of science! Let us capture this specimen, lock it up in a laboratory and conduct experiments on it!

Is it big news that the first female is appointed to any function at all? Emancipation has come a great way and nowadays female lead is business as usual. Admittedly there are a less females in IT but that's more to do with it being less appealing to women. Not because the male majority keeps them from career opportunities. There are enough examples of women doing more than fine. In fact, using this tone is rather patronizing and I wonder whether Ms. Bergeron really appreciates the attention on the sole base that she's a lady, doing lady's things.

--

I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
Why does this matter? by sdhankin · 2012-02-07 04:29 · Score: 1

I've worked with many wonderful managers, male and female. I've also worked with a few awful managers, male and female.
Hmmm - actually most of the bad managers were male. But let's move on - nothing to see here.
Robyn Bergeron? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 04:30 · Score: 0

I heard she is very important. She has many leather-bound books and her apartment smells of rich mahogany.
Re:Well the obvious question is... by Talderas · 2012-02-07 04:32 · Score: 1

I believe the obvious question is to ask for pictures as proof of the appointment or else you would infer that said the appointment did not, in fact, ever occur at the time in question.

--
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
So, What Is SlashDot Trying To Say... by RobotRunAmok · 2012-02-07 04:33 · Score: 2

...that the Open Source industry is finally on the verge of catching up with the rest of the tech and software industry in matters of gender equality?
The whole headline is a perfect example of back-handed praise. It's got to be Editor-Trolling because even Timothy can't be that naive.
Meehh... by Ecuador · 2012-02-07 04:38 · Score: 1

Call me when a woman goes into space...
Oh, wait...
The title takes women's rights back several decades.
Oh, yeah, its a big post, uncommon for the likes of the womenfolk ehh? Oh, that's not all, it is also *techy* eehh? Right, because we know how it goes with women and technology - har har!. What? Linux is involved? I' d never...! Wow, Congrats slashdot.
And this post would not be complete without some lame predictions of future /. articles - shall we?
-Fellulah Davidovic, first woman to load a file onto emacs!
-Regina Filange, first woman to live in her mom's basement well into her thirties!

--
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
1. Re:Meehh... by bieber · 2012-02-07 06:46 · Score: 1
  
  You're completely missing the point. No one (at least no one with half a brain) believes that women are under-represented in technology because they're somehow inferior at it. They're under-represented because it's a subculture loaded with misogyny and sexism. Seeing women begin to break through those barriers and attain high ranking positions in what has traditionally been a boys only club is kind of a big deal. I'm sure this is a significant personal achievement for Robyn, but it's also a great achievement for the entire industry in moving towards a more gender-equal culture.
Good. by p0p0 · 2012-02-07 04:39 · Score: 1

Just keep her away from Stallman. http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/EMACS_virgins_joke
Info and picture from Fedora by Dareth · 2012-02-07 04:42 · Score: 2

http://fedoraproject.org/en/using/life/robynbergeron.html
Recovering sysadmin indeed.

--

I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
1. Re:Info and picture from Fedora by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 15:17 · Score: 0
  
  Not too shabby. A one bagger, two at most. (or a six if you use that scale).
Did Jared lose the job to Robyn in a poker game? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 04:42 · Score: 0

I suspect that Jared lost to job Robyn in a late night poker game at the recent FUDCON in Backsburg VA.
In other news, Lennies's Cab by drwho · 2012-02-07 04:47 · Score: 1

...has just hired its first left-handed Lithuanian. Get over the gender and racial/ethnic background issues! They're not important! You're just going to get Robyn labeled as the 'token female'. It's disgusting!
Will she stop the travesty/debacle Gnome 3? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 04:50 · Score: 1

All I want to know is her position on Gnome 3. Is she going to be the one who stops it?
1. Re:Will she stop the travesty/debacle Gnome 3? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 07:53 · Score: 0
  
  Word on the street is.. reverse cowgirl
Useless discussion by kiwimate · 2012-02-07 05:02 · Score: 2

1. I'd imagine that the news that a major distribution has a new project leader is what people should be discussing.
2. Yes, it is shameful that Slashdot felt they should emphasize this in the headline.
3. But, to be fair, it is mentioned in the linked article...

She will be the first (what took them so long?) female leader of Fedora

4. ...which isn't any better. ("What took them so long?" Maybe because they had a habit of picking whoever was best for the job regardless of other characteristics?)
5. Futile discussion. Everyone is now focused on the sexism. Way to go, Slashdot editors. And Slashdot readers. And whoever wrote that quote in the linked article.
A little bit of info by jones_supa · 2012-02-07 05:12 · Score: 1

They also host a small interview about her.
Err what? by RyuuzakiTetsuya · 2012-02-07 05:36 · Score: 1

First woman in charge of Red Hat and her name isn't Carmen?
Video games lied to me again.

--
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
I'm outraged! by Baldrson · 2012-02-07 05:43 · Score: 1

The NERVE of these misogynists to claim a mere XX female is a significant step toward true diversity!
Wake me up when there's a pentasomy X WOMAN in charge of the Fedora project.
zzzzzzzz.....

--
Seastead this.
1. Re:I'm outraged! by bill_mcgonigle · 2012-02-07 06:08 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Wake me up when there's a pentasomy X WOMAN in charge of the Fedora project.
  
  XXXXX syndrome causes mental, growth, and motor retardation.
  Sorry, the Windows Vista team beat us on this one.
  
  --
  My God, it's Full of Source!
  OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Does that mean Beefy Miracle will be a "she"? by leftie · 2012-02-07 06:26 · Score: 1

That could a little bit creepy.
Pics or it didn't happen! by headqtrs · 2012-02-07 06:32 · Score: 0

Oh wait, that's something else....
Waiting for the day... by sensei+moreh · 2012-02-07 06:40 · Score: 1

I'm just waiting for the day when a person's gender/ethnicity/religion/you-name-it... is no longer news. As a Fedora user, I really give a damn if the project leader is male, female, black, white, gay, straight, Mormon, Scientologist, or whatever. I just want to know that he or she is competent.

--
Geology - it's not rocket science; it's rock science
1. Re:Waiting for the day... by VortexCortex · 2012-02-07 07:46 · Score: 1
  
  I'm just waiting for the day when a person's gender/ethnicity/religion/you-name-it... is no longer news. As a Fedora user, I really give a damn if the project leader is male, female, black, white, gay, straight, Mormon, Scientologist, or whatever. I just want to know that he or she is competent.
  
  So, you're beyond all forms of distinction except mental acuity? Who cares if they are competent, mentally retarded, brainless (a cybernetic state machine), or even a dead yet dreaming eldritch terror of the deep? No one cares HOW they get the job done so long as its done satisfactorily and consistently.
  I mean, no one made a big deal about it when Canonical appointed Cthulhu as Ubuntu's Lead UI Designer.
Re:Well the obvious question is... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2012-02-07 07:07 · Score: 1

Is she hot?
Nope. By becoming a techie leader, she's become very cool instead. (But she could have an insulating layer somewhere and a bit of hotness, though.)

--
Ezekiel 23:20
The sounds of the shattering glass ceiling! by Theovon · 2012-02-07 07:17 · Score: 1

A few people have pointed out that we should not emphasize Ms. Bergeron's gender. In an ideal world, this would be true. But in THIS world, it's a big deal, simply because women in high IT positions are so rare. Having worked with some very talented female engineers, I can say that as skilled engineers, they brought more to the work environment than just engineering. Women are not inferior, but there are differences, some biological, some sociological, and those differences have huge benefits when it comes to working in a creative environment. Since they don't think exactly like men, they solve problems differently, and this means we as teams can solve more problems more effectively. So I say congratulations to the Fedora Project for bringing greater practical diversity to their team.
Many of our scientific advances came from Arabs. Then Islam came along, and they fell behind. This is not just because they subjugated half their workforce but also because they suppressed half their variety in ways of thinking.
Women also wear better looking clothes, smell nicer, and have a penchant for adding things to the physical environment that make the workplace more pleasant. How can you beat that?
(Yes, I will favor a good-smelling slightly less talented applicant over one who is very skilled but smells like ass. Tough shit for those of you with bad diets and poor hygiene habits who can't manage to take an interview seriously enough to BATHE before they show up. People have to work next to you.)
1. Re:The sounds of the shattering glass ceiling! by vga_init · 2012-02-07 08:05 · Score: 1
  
  Your comment about Islam is one of the stupidest things I've ever read. Before Islam came to Arabia, they were making 0 scientific advances and their civilization was in a state of wretchedness. In Arab society, tribes were constantly going to war with one another; they viewed women as property (as did Europeans), and it was popular for fathers to bury their female babies alive because they felt female children were too much of a burden.
  Islam arrived with a specific platform of demanding respect toward women and expanded rights for them, forbidding the murder of female children, asserting that women are not property and have legal rights, including the right to receive inheritance and own property. One of Islam's main appeal to people is its high regard for women, which not only asks that men respect women, but also asks that women respect themselves and dress and behave modestly for the good of society. It was not until the advent of Islam that Arabs were known for having a successful and progressive civilization, which is when all the scientific advances that you are attributing to them occurred. In Muslim-majority countries where women are having their rights infringed upon (eg Saudi Arabia), Muslim women campaign for their rights not on the platform of fighting Islam, but rather their platform is that they are demanding their Islamic rights from an oppressive government that only pays lip service to Islam but isn't owning up.
  I find it hilarious how women are only valued for their bodies and their sexuality in the West. Just look at your comment: "Women also wear better looking clothes, smell nicer, and have a penchant for adding things to the physical environment that make the workplace more pleasant." We're having a serious discussion about women in the workplace and already you're sexualizing them. Women go to work so they can work, not so creeps like you can admire their clothing, smell them, and feel pleasure from them being there.
2. Re:The sounds of the shattering glass ceiling! by VortexCortex · 2012-02-07 08:18 · Score: 1
  
  ...Since they don't think exactly like men, they solve problems differently...
  Women also wear better looking clothes, smell nicer, and have a penchant for adding things to the physical environment that make the workplace more pleasant.
  While I believe your heart's in the right place, you're still pushing those damn gender role stereotypes. Perhaps it sticks out like a sore thumb to me because all my life I've had friends of all races, creeds, genders and sexual orientations. In HighSchool a friend and I both liked the same subjects, activities, bands, and even fell for the same girl. She was a lesbian -- A woman who thought almost "exactly like" me, ie like a man. Not saying that she didn't, but not all women "smell nicer" than all men. Hell, I'm a man that can cook, has nice furniture & clothes and keeps his house clean; Does that make me feminine in your book?
  Some of my female friends take beauty & fashion advice from my male friends...
  Additionally, some of my most brilliant colleagues have poor hygiene: They literally just forget to eat, bathe, tie shoes or comb hair because they're too caught up in their thoughts... you know, similar to Einstein. Health is important, but diet? Really? So if you're not sexy you don't get hired? Hmmm. Also, Telecommuting is a thing now.
  --posted from my parent's basement, because this is Slashdot.
3. Re:The sounds of the shattering glass ceiling! by Theovon · 2012-02-08 02:39 · Score: 1
  
  I'll have to do better homework on Islam. Your anecdote contradicts other anecdotes, and I need to wipe away all the anecdotes and read some real history.
  But is it a stereotype to notice that women are culturally conditioned to pay better attention to their appearance? It's a fact. Women are TRAINED to do that. This is evident in the fact that more women wear makeup than do men. I'm not judging women for putting effort into their appearance. I'm saying that that's how EVERYONE should behave. Men CAN dress better, bathe better, and put two seconds of thought into making a communal office environment more visually appealing. But more often than not, they don't.
  To put it another way, women and men are conditioned differently. This is a fact. I'm sure there are families out there that work very hard to avoid gender-based differential training, but it's almost impossible to avoid the instant you turn on the TV. And what I AM SAYING is that men should open their eyes and learn a few things from the women they work with. I'm sure it goes both ways. There's nothing physioligical that prevents women from taking more positions of leadership in the world. Most of the barriers are cultural, and perhaps a few more women would rise a little higher if they could get past their training to be "ladylike", which usually just means passive and submissive.
  Another thing that makes men and women different is that women are the ones who get pregnant. It's because of the NEED for things like maternity leave that unfairly bar married women from certain positions, because employers don't want workflow disrupted. Unmarried women rise higher in the workforce because they're at lower risk of getting pregnant. Married men rise higher because they're judged as being more stable. That's bullshit. Both men AND women should get materity/paternity leave, and leeway should be made to allow professional mothers to have children and still do their jobs. Most pregnant women work right up to their due dates anyhow. The fathers should do the same and then they both get time off from work for several weeks. This all comes from this bizarre idea that women are somehow more responsible for babies than men are. Fathers need to take just as much responsibility for their kids.
4. Re:The sounds of the shattering glass ceiling! by Theovon · 2012-02-08 02:51 · Score: 1
  
  You're right that NOT ALL women "smell nicer." I was referring to a statistical norm and my personal experiences. I believe what I was doing is called Synecdoche.
  The only way in which ALL black people are different from whites is that their skin tone is darker. And when suntans and albinos get into the mix, even that isn't necessarily true. All other characteristics are completely individual. However, there are certain common trends. For instance, africans tend to have different muscle tone. And sociologists have pointed out that the average black person has better innate social ability than the average white person. I'm sure you can dig up a few other trends that are statistically significant, although we would be foolish to judge individuals on those bases. You ignore the differences when it comes to judging someone as a person, their skills, etc., but those trends are all very interesting anthropologically.
  So there's nothing wrong with what you say. There are always exceptions to the statistical norm. In fact, what I was implying is that we should DEFEAT the statistical norm and learn from each other's cultural conditioning. The women I have worked with have brought aspects to the workplace that have made it more pleasant. "Pleasant" is my value judgement. Statistically, what women will bring to the workplace is merely "different." Men can do those same things if they learn to, and I have known a few who did. Not enough, though.
  But to sum up what I was really trying to get across is that by embracing diversity, we generally improve our ability to solve problems, because we can leverage more perspectives.
Re:Well the obvious question is... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 07:25 · Score: 0

Subjective isn't it?
http://fedoraproject.org/en/using/life/robynbergeron.html
Cool, now we are all waiting for... by DerCed · 2012-02-07 07:28 · Score: 2

Cool, now we are all waiting for the first Black Female Linux Team Leader?
1. Re:Cool, now we are all waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 10:56 · Score: 0
  
  I'm waiting for the first half-Asian quarter-Caucasian quarter-African Buddhist transsexual lesbian Linux kernel branch manager.
  In the name of equality, I will not rest until a kernel branch is managed by a half-Asian quarter-Caucasian quarter-African Buddhist transsexual lesbian.
  You know, perhaps there are fewer women involved in open source because of this sort of nonsense: treating them as some sort of novel spectacle.
Don't Care by vga_init · 2012-02-07 07:48 · Score: 1

Breaking news... Fedora project leader has a vagina.
Honestly I'm tired of sexism in our society. I don't give a damn if someone is a man or a woman. Period. It doesn't mean anything--it's not some amazing, wonderful thing to have a female in a position of leadership or power, nor can the same be said for a male. They're all just human beings.
1. Re:Don't Care by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-02-07 09:06 · Score: 1
  
  I don't give a damn if someone is a man or a woman. Period.
  Before I got married - back when I was dating - I must say this mattered to me a lot.
  
  --
  #DeleteChrome
Re:Well the obvious question is... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 07:49 · Score: 0

She's hot alright. Fedora has finally done something right.
w00t! by Limburgher · 2012-02-07 08:06 · Score: 1

Congratulations!!!!

--
You are not the customer.
Is It Just Me? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 09:47 · Score: 0

Is it just me, or does this make everyone else feel less... nerdy?
!relavent by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 10:08 · Score: 0

And this has to do with how Red Hat is run?
I'm incredibly surprised and pleased ... by eyegone · 2012-02-07 12:43 · Score: 1

That the article used the word "female", rather than misusing "woman" as an adjective.
I guess it's a good day to be a grammar nazi.

--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
the name by KingAlanI · 2012-02-07 13:23 · Score: 1

I think an ID of 998013 is from long before that Canadian twerp got famous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABVmyG6_Ph0
Letterman found 5000 Biebers and 8 Justin Biebers in the latest US census, and had one of them read a Top Ten list about it.
One of the comments points out the Michael Bolton character from Office Space, and I'm also reminded of hearing about someone who named their kid Austin Powers years before the Michael Myers movies came out.

--
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
statistics by KingAlanI · 2012-02-07 13:32 · Score: 1

fewer high level positions = a smaller sample size.
Also, statistics wouldn't say why the bias exists.
Perhaps there's a problem, perhaps it seems like a problem due to chance, perhaps small differences are magnified at higher levels
as such, looking at the rank and file might be more informative.

--
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
Some day... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 20:32 · Score: 0

...a woman will start a new Linux distro called Womanix, and all women will be expected to switch from Windows, Mac, Ubuntu, Fedora or whatever else it is they are using - to this distro.
Re:Well the obvious question is... by unixisc · 2012-02-07 20:37 · Score: 1

One thing she could have been asked would have been her opinion on the DEs - Gnome3 vs KDE4.8 vs others. Not including Unity, since that's a Canonical exclusive.
the first female leader of the open source project by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-08 11:33 · Score: 0

I for one welcome our vagina bearing overlords.