Hi. My name is Geordie Birch. I live in Vancouver Canada. I have been a user of Debian since July 1999. In the past I have been involved in local projects that encouraged the use of computers and networks by people who might not otherwise have access. In 2000 we set up a computer lab running KDE under Debian. While open to the public, its presence was advertised only within local community activist circles. Many women made use of the computer lab. Also I am and have been involved in various projects providing network services to community activist groups. These projects run Debian on their servers, and include a significant number of women among their admins.
I would like to see more women - especially non-geek women - using Debian as it is in my opinion an excellent desktop platform. Unfortunately all of the Debian resources prior to D-W are somewhat alienating to non-geeks in general and, i would imagine, non-geek women in particular. The D-W community is valuable to me for two reasons: to facilitate my presentation of Debian as a realisic option for women interested in running a Linux based OS; and as a technical resource to further my own technical ability - D-W is a friendly place, lacking the macho and elite feel of so many other technical forums. I subscribed to the D-W mailling list shortly after it was established; I sit in the D-W IRC channel a lot as well. I have a non computer job and don't have a lot of time to IRC these days although I find the technical discussions interesting to read. Geordie. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
