Dan McGarry wrote:
>
> The social make-up of the open source
> community is nearly identical to the social make-up of university computer
> science classes.
I'm an exception, and so is Dancer. So...
> 1) Does high-tech always *require* an advanced education?
No. Dancer doesn't have it - but he's a natural 'hacker' and self-taught
himself to well over normal college standard.
(No, NOT cracker. I doubt anyone here doesn't know the difference, but if
you don't, look up the Hacker HowTo -
http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html )
> 2) What are good ways to lower the cost of admission to the high-tech
> 'club'?
Well, Australia has 'free' higher education for its citizens - or /did/
have. It's been gradually eroding. :( But it's still low-cost enough to
/manage/ if you're stubborn and smart and poor.
But that doesn't help the ones who are poor and low-ego. :( I had parents
who believed in me, and who knew how to raise a smart kid. Most poor kids
don't, I've noticed.
> 3) How does one explore one's interest in computing, short of spending
> years in class finding out?
It's very hard to tell how someone who can't afford a computer could find
out. If you /can/ afford a computer, you can do what Dancer did - spend
years on your own at home finding out.
Mum got me a Vic20. (And an electronics kit. And a Fisher Technic set. And
made sure I had a garden. And so on - like I said, she knew how to nurture
a smart kid. Two, actually.) But I never understood its potential, so I
kind of .. used it to play games, and idly played with programming a
little. BASIC /never/ interested me. Still doesn't.
> I'm sure that answers to the above will address not only the problem of
> women's under-representation in computing, but that of a great many others
> as well.
ANY group who can't get into computing for reasons other than
lack-of-interest is of interest to me/us.
Jenn V.
--
"We're repairing the coolant loop of a nuclear fusion reactor.
This is women's work!"
Helix, Freefall. http://www.purrsia.com/freefall/
Jenn Vesperman [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.simegen.com/~jenn
************
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linuxchix.org
