There’s no denying that Linux is a popular operating system and is genuinely seen by many as a viable alternative to Microsoft’s market domination.
However, once having decided to go with Linux, the next question is which Linux distribution to use? Fans wax lyrical about their favourite “distro”. Understandably, this can cause further anxiety to newcomers keen to make the right choice.At heart, what we mean by “Linux” is two fundamental items: the kernel and the non-kernel parts. The kernel is the central component of most operating systems which manages resources and communications with hardware. It typically makes the lowest-level computer components available to software applications. This is the heart of any operating system. When people speak of Linux being created by Linus Torvalds, it is specifically the kernel that is meant; it was this which provided the basis and framework for all other applications.
The “non-kernel” therefore is everything else. This is software like the raft of networking tools for which Linux is well-known - web servers like Apache, programming language compilers and interpreters like Java, GNU C++, Perl and Python - and more.
The reason why Linux distributions are called “distributions” in the first place is because each distro is a collection of the kernel plus any of a number of software packages, distributed together. These packages are largely drawn from the GNU free software project. All distros provide facilities for managing the installation, removal and upgrading of discrete software packages.
Since returning to the Kansas City area I am met with a wall of internal frustration. Where did all the women’s user groups go? Where are all the pro science, math, and technology girls programs? I used to run a local Web Girls chapter and attempted to keep a local group of women’s linux users afloat, but they seem to have all disappeared. I really thought things were changing. It seemed that everytime I turned around there was a new summer or after school program for girls elementary through high school age doing something with math or science or computers. As a Girl Scout leader the opportunities for my girls were endless! Girls were the majority of my enrollments in the College for Kids computer classes. It was exciting and I had great hopes. I moved away three years ago confident that the trend had finally turned.
Where we have been residing for the last several years science class isn’t even an option until sixth grade! I moved my family back to Kansas City not only for my love of the area but for the opportunities my daughters and sons would have here. Unfortunately I have been met with huge disappointment. Reading a KC parenting magazine I picked up at a restaurant today the only classes I could find for the girls were ballet, gymnastics, cooking, and scrapbooking. Ack! Were has all the science gone?!?! As far as I could tell from the end of the school year we don’t even have Science Olympiad any longer and I discovered my children had never even had a field trip to the Kansas City Science Museum.
I am at a loss. What can I do to reverse this new trend?! I will begin by contacting the local colleges about College for Kids courses again and looks like I will start developing some new material. I will put out a call for a few new users groups even if it means that between all this I won’t have weekends to myself. There appears to be women in business and women as business owners organizations and events here but that just isn’t specialized enough. What we need are more events for women in technology and not just computer technology, we need to include all sciences. Where do I start? I cannot just sit here and do nothing.
Any ideas my visitors and readers can offer will be greatly appreciated. You can post a comment or email me directly at linuxchic@alternageek.com.
The dearth of women in math and science has been discussed frequently. Computer science and programming is part of that same picture. It is obvious to everyone that the ratio is seriously lop-sided. But determining exactly why and what, if anything, we can do about it is not as obvious.
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Ruby on Rails Podcast — Roundtable: Women in Development
The podcast is a round-table discussion on the state of women in open source programming. It features Jen May Wu, Dr. Ana Nelson, Liz Summerfield, Sandy Metz, Carmelyne Thompson, Cynthia Kaiser, and Desi McAdam, and it is moderated by Geoffrey Grosenbach. To share just one insightful tidbit from their discussion: they mention how many technology companies only give out men’s t-shirts and how much they appreciate companies that bother to stock both men and women’s t-shirts. A great point.
You have probably already noticed that there are no ads at Linuxchic.net. I get quite a few hits to this site and I probably could bank some extra cash by tossing up some ads. As a matter of fact, I have dabbled in that arena a time or two but always end up taking them back down. I am definitely not sleeping on a mattress filled with money and would love to have some extra moolah to cover hosting costs at the least. The problem is I hate ads. I loathe them. It’s a personal choice for the site at this time. Not to say that one day I won’t give in and decide that the need out weighs the want but right now I don’t want the clutter. I don’t hate sites that use them, I just don’t want them here.
There is also another debate on that front;I don’t want my posts confused with paid advertisements. Bloggers are making money and that is really awesome however, some of them probably shouldn’t be managing their own business. I choose blogs to read for their integrity. I want to be sure that what I am reading is not a biased post because of the paycheck they are getting for clicks or views or links or whatever. If I can’t be sure that what they write is unbiased when they say it is, then I will most likely stop reading it. I read some fanboy blogs even though I KNOW they are pimping out the devil because they are pretty upfront about it. They are biased but I know that going into it. What gets my goat are bloggers who are claiming to be non discriminate then selling their words to the devil. Embedding words into a post that you have sold is even more fly by night than the pay to post type deals. I don’t care if it is a stupid slogan or the a single word, if you got paid to stick that into your post, you have sold your soul to the dark lord if you don’t tell your readers that you got paid to stick that crap in there. A simple disclaimer somewhere in crazy small print would satisfy me. Just tell me. If I am too stupid to see the small print then that is my problem.
The pay for post is not as sneaky as slipping a few words in here and there, but in my opinion it’s more deceiving. We have all seen these types of “fake” articles in print magazines. Usually in print the “article” in question looks like an ad. It is typically printed with a different weight paper or glossier paper or something telltale not to mention the “Paid Advertisement” print somewhere on it. The problem with these types of advertisements on blogs is there is nothing physical about it. There are no paper types to distinguish it and I have yet to see “Paid Advertisement” in bold print anywhere in the article. If the writer is getting paid to review a product by a manufacturer then there had better be a disclaimer even if that review is honest and discusses pros and cons otherwise that writer is risking having their integrity called into question for not only that review, but any other opinion stated in the future. How can I trust them?
It’s really just a matter of principal so I don’t want to hear any whining about how anyone has to make a living. We ALL have to make a living unless we are blessed enough to be independently wealthy from birth, it is just a matter of how you choose to make your living. Advertisers aren’t holding a gun to your head. If you love what you write about THAT much, you could bag groceries for a living and still write. This “good vs. evil” conversation has been going on since the World Wide Web was born. Dot-Com? Commercialize the information I love? That’s crazy talk?! Oh wait, yeah, it is still going on just tell me it is a commercial because I really don’t want to be duped. Don’t cop out either claiming your banners and ads are enough to clue readers in that your “words” are paid for too. There is a HUGE difference to putting a column of ads on your site and selling words in your posts. If you call yourself a “professional blogger” you had best behave like one and take some responsibility for your business because that is what you site becomes the moment you put ads on it no matter what the profit or loss margin is for it.
If everyone else jumped off the cliff, would you be a lemming too?
As you may have heard the web has come into the 2.0 stage. There are many opinions and differences of opinion as to what and how the web has changed. Discussions on the subject mostly surround use of technology and habits that have been around for a long time. Javascript and AJAX seem to rise to the top of any pile of topics. But the topic of how the new Web 2.0 technology influences the server-side of things never seems to come up much.
This article covers some interesting points about Lighttpd with regards to AJAX and FastCGI. Since my first introduction to it, I have found I prefer it over Apache if fo no other reason than the fact it isn’t as bloated.
At DevChix, Gloria has a thought-provoking article about the barriers that women face in technology fields and the role of women-only and women-friendly groups can play in building community. She points out that interactions in women-friendly groups is different than in male-dominated spaces.
Destructive criticism is the best way to keep a site predominantly male. It implies that there is no concern about whether a person can learn from a response or not, or whether they would find offense. It is an outward display of ego, a territorial “pissing rite” in which most women do not and will not participate.
Of course many men are also put off by that kind of behavior and are often welcomed into women’s groups, as long as they don’t appear to be there for the “wrong reasons.” The wrong reasons (discussed in more detail in the article) being thouse that conflict with the groups’ primary function as a safe space for women to exchange ideas.
Awareness of and accountability for behavior in women’s groups means a lot more than just safety from sexual harassment, or discrimination. It means that if one is treated unfairly or harshly in any manner that a person finds offensive, the entire community will hear your claim. They will give you advice, opinions, and will collectively decide if action should be taken.