[alexfi]

I think IT and especially open source is one area, where your gender, background, sexual orientation doesn't matter. The most open source projects I'm using or working on, are made by people I don't know how they look. The only thing that matters is the ability of writing good code.

The author is in that point right, that there are more male programmers than female. But to solve this problem you have to start way earlier, with getting the interest to tech things of a child (regardless of gender) in school or even earlier.

[tptacek]

Major open source projects are disproportionately managed and staffed by people with full-time jobs at major software companies, and the process of obtaining and thriving in one of those jobs is not intrinsically color and gender blind, so this argument isn't persuasive.

[justicezyx]

> process of obtaining and thriving in one of those jobs is not intrinsically color and gender blind

So it's ok now to post a comment with a strong statement without any data?

[microcolonel]

> Major open source projects are disproportionately managed and staffed by people with full-time jobs at major software companies, and the process of obtaining and thriving in one of those jobs is not intrinsically color and gender blind, so this argument isn't persuasive.

How is it surprising that they work in software? It's like finding out that your welding instructor has worked as a welder; surely somebody who contributes to a field in public is more likely to have a job in that field in private, but does that mean that not having a job precludes you from having a skill?

I mean, I've been NEET going on half a year, and I'm contributing to open source projects, do I need a software job to do open source? I was contributing to open source projects before I was ever employed, do I need to have had a job to do open source?