Francesca Ciceri writes ("Re: Diversity statement for the Debian Project"):
> On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 02:56:21PM +0000, Ian Jackson wrote:
> > I think we should make it clear that our aim is that participation in
> > the development of Debian should be equally open to all,
> > discriminating only on the basis of people's ability and the quality
> > of their contributions.
>
> Makes sense, but it strongly depends on the meaning of "participation in
> the developement of Debian".
> IMO Debian became in the last years something more than an
> operating system, and - as consequence - the "development of Debian"
> does no longer mean only packaging (or other code-related activity).
We have recognised that for some time.
> Basically anyone can "make a valuable contribution to" Debian.
This is still patently false. Consider a newborn baby, or someone in
hospital in a coma.
...
> With these premises, technical ability (intended, as I think you do but
> please correct me if I'm wrong, as coding/packaging ability) is not
> IMO a pre-requisite to contribute.
There are other kinds of ability besides technical ability. All of
those useful activities you mentioned depend on the ability of the
people doing them. And it is right and proper that when we choose
with whom we do these things, we should discriminate on the basis of
ability.
And when it comes to technical work, we should discriminate on the
basis of technical as well as other kinds of ability. To say "we will
not discriminate on the basis of technical ability", when what we are
undertaking is fundamentally a technical project, is absurd.
Ian.
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