On Tue, Jan 25, 2005 at 12:26:13AM +0000, Helen Faulkner wrote:
> Based on comments made to me by a number of women who are interested in
> contributing more to Debian, the level of agressiveness on some of the
> mailing lists and IRC channels is a problem. It is preventing people
> (women and men, no doubt) from getting involved, because they don't want
> to have to deal with that behaviour, should it be directed towards them.
Indeed.
> I often find myself explaining to people how they can avoid attracting
> the attention of those who are likely to be unpleasant to deal with, and
> also repeatedly emphasising the fact that, despite some appearances,
> there really are many very pleasant and supportive people involved in
> Debian. It's a pity that such explanations are actually required.
Sadly, those helpful people usually don't make up the reputation of Debian
in public. The aggressive DDs do this, IMHO.
> I do not believe that being thick-skinned enough to cope with people who
> are very agressive or insulting should be a requirement for involvement
> in Debian. Sadly, it seems to me that this is effectively the case.
> Shouldn't we be more interested in someone's technical skills, and their
> ability to work well with others?
I think, the problem is not with thin-skinned people but with those
thick-skinned one, that don't care about the thinner-skinned people. The
argument of being thick-skinned is IMHO just a bad excuse to be more
aggressive to others. It's just too simple to state that the other person is
too thin-skinned when others being aggressive to them.
As a result, people start to believe they have to get aggressive to others
in order to get heared. I made that experience myself.
Wasn't there a thread of being more polite lately?
I wish more women would join Debian and the lists. My experience is that
usually there's not that much aggressiveness when there are women around.
--
Ciao... //
Ingo \X/
Please note that year 2004 has come to an end and
the year 2005 is now - even in my mail address!
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