Minorities in FL/OSS

I’ll be refering to racial minorities in this post. We are all well aware of the critical need for women in free software.

In the past few days, as I surf the ‘internet wave’ for various research opportunities, scholarships, etc. I notice the push for minorities in education. I’ll overlook the arguments for affirmative action for this post, because it would be a red herring.

In particular I see a push toward the sciences, such as physics, math, engineering, and computer science. This CS push is mildly entertaining to me, because of the work I see from all the various LUGs/LoCo’s around the world who contribute so much to free software. In particular, translations and bug fixing is done on an international level, from what I’ve seen in the Ubuntu project.

This is a good thing. While translations and desktop work is more computer application then it is computer science, it is still a move towards universal acceptance of computing and in particular, Linux.

In America, we have all sorts of political rhetoric and arguments about race and the proper uses, role, importance, etc. which race plays into the broader society.  But in the Free software world, if you want to help and you care about your work, then you are accepted. There is nothing more important.

Case in point: The LoCo leader of Chicago Ubuntu spent years causing trouble in the Little Village area, the same area where I grew up. When we are hanging out and joking around, he tells me that he is “more mexican” then I am. Does this phrase actually mean anything? No, not really, because we both have the same expriences growing up. Race is irrelevent, becuase out binding relationship is the work we do, and want to do, for free software.

Nothing else matters. Not social class, not degrees or gender. Anyone who believes otherwise is just deceiving themselves.