Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 9th Jul 2009 12:09 UTC
During the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit, Richard M. Stallman of the Free Software Foundation (and the Superfluous Introduction Award goes to...) gave a keynote speech. Said keynote speech raised a few eyebrows in the Free software community because of a number of questionable remarks regarding women in technology. David "Lefty" Schlesinger, member of the GNOME Advisory Board and active in the mobile open source community, took issue with RMS' remarks and decided to call him out on it. The response he got was... Less than satisfying.
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RE[2]: What an utter non-issue
by xDisruptor on Thu 9th Jul 2009 14:27
in reply to "RE: What an utter non-issue"
Member since:2006-01-04
Finally a guy that courageously speaks the truth.
God damn it with most of the rest people in this world. If Stallman is to be flamed for his jokes then what should we do with cases like George Carlin. These dudes are just trying to make some points without sounding dull. Yeah sure Stallman might not be the funniest and most eloquent speakers around but give me a brake guys with your `oh-we-are-so-offended' bullshit. f--king retards. Get a life and a get spine.
RE[3]: What an utter non-issue - huge difference
by jabbotts on Thu 9th Jul 2009 14:58
in reply to "RE[2]: What an utter non-issue"
Member since:2007-09-06
Stallman and Carlin are not remotely in the same league. I can't think of a single Carlin commentary that was gender specific. Stallman has a big brain for technology but is not comparable to the satirical artistry of Carlin. Neither in terms of content or delivery. It's more like Stallman having a Andrew Dice Clay moment; poor delivery and poor choice of content.
If it's no big deal for Stallman, why can't he go "my bad.. bad joke.. sorry for that" and move on? Jokes fail but a good speaker will accept that for what it is, not get evasive and defensive.
Put simply, self deprecating jokes are one thing but when it involves any third party, a joke will be constructive not actively or passively hostile.
RE[2]: What an utter non-issue
by lawlernet on Thu 9th Jul 2009 17:18
in reply to "RE: What an utter non-issue"
Member since:2005-08-22
Also, to those who claim that his remarks suggest the negative stereotype that women need technical assistance more than men, well this negative stereotype is a fact. The bulk of people who ask me for technical assistance are female and female computer geeks are rather rare, but you can find them by the boatloads among men.
I live in a community where a lot of African-Americans live. The vast majority of the people that ask me for technical assistance are black. By that logic, black people are bad with technology. Do you see a problem here? Your anecdotal evidence is not even close to being considered statistical fact, the likelihood of you and your individual situation being accurately reflective of the entire population is slim, so that's why these jokes are stupid and likely offensive.
Even if women are more likely to ask you for information regarding technology it's still not morally right to treat every woman like a technology tard.
RE[2]: What an utter non-issue
by gadget00 on Fri 10th Jul 2009 22:23
in reply to "RE: What an utter non-issue"
Member since:2007-02-16
RE[2]: What an utter non-issue
by boldingd on Mon 13th Jul 2009 16:53
in reply to "RE: What an utter non-issue"
Member since:2009-02-19
Indeed.
I went to a liberal-arts college where women outnumbered men 4 to 1. Guess how many men where in the C.S. program? I can think of at least 6 (it wasn't a big program). Guess how many women? One. She was every bit as intelligent as her male peers -- maybe more so -- but she was still the only women on the C.S. major track at a school where women outnumbered men four-to-one. I had a Physics minor, too, and that was about as bad: in physics courses, there where probably two men for every woman.
Let me underscored that I'm not trying to denigrate women here. The women who I do encounter in sci-tech-type fields are neither more nor less competent than their male counterparts; they are simply rare.
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I fully agree. Feminism is getting really politically correct and annoying. Stallman was just cracking a joke to lighten a rather dull and serious conference - why are people taking these jokes so seriously?
Also, to those who claim that his remarks suggest the negative stereotype that women need technical assistance more than men, well this negative stereotype is a fact. The bulk of people who ask me for technical assistance are female and female computer geeks are rather rare, but you can find them by the boatloads among men.