Author: deryck Date: 2006-03-17 20:06:18 +0000 (Fri, 17 Mar 2006) New Revision: 931
WebSVN: http://websvn.samba.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi?view=rev&root=samba-web&rev=931 Log: Add 2 columns to Jeremy's Low Point archives. Run a news story announecing the new material. deryck Added: trunk/news/articles/low_point/column10.html trunk/news/articles/low_point/column11.html trunk/news/team/low_point_update_17Mar06.html Modified: trunk/news/articles/low_point/index.html Changeset: Added: trunk/news/articles/low_point/column10.html =================================================================== --- trunk/news/articles/low_point/column10.html 2006-03-15 22:22:58 UTC (rev 930) +++ trunk/news/articles/low_point/column10.html 2006-03-17 20:06:18 UTC (rev 931) @@ -0,0 +1,121 @@ +<!--#include virtual="/samba/news/header.html" --> + <title>The Low Point -- Jeremy Allison Column Archive -- Column 10</title> +<!--#include virtual="jra_header2.html" --> + +<h3>Jeremy Allison Column Archives</h3> + +<h2>The Low Point — a View from the Valley — Column 10</h2> + +<h3>Macho Geek Madness</h3> + +<p>My father worked for thirty years in a wire making factory in Sheffield. +He worked on the shop floor doing the most brutal and demanding physical +work. After he'd retired I visited the factory on a tour and was horrified +at how noisy, dirty and downright dangerous it was. "Yes, it got a +lot better towards the end" was his comment when I told him what it +was like now.</p> + +<p>I work sitting at home in my office in Silicon Valley, typing this +on one of the many computers scattered about. There's no physically +demanding tasks in my job other than carrying my daily cups of coffee +around the house. In almost every way they can be our jobs are different, +except one important way in which they are identical. There were no +women working with my father in his workplace, and there are no women +working with me on the Open Source/Free Software I create. +</p> + +<p>Why is this ? In the Sheffield wire making factory it was considered +a job "not suitable for a woman". The amazing thing in the twenty-first +century is that some people seem to have the same feeling about writing +software. It's true that there are few women in software in general, +but if you compare the presence of women in Open Source/Free Software +with the number of women working in proprietary software I think you'll +find that there were fewer working in the Open Source/Free Software +community on coding tasks than in the proprietary world. I've worked +with some amazingly talented women programmers when I was working in +proprietary software (my mis-spent youth), but with none in the Open +Source/Free Software world.</p> + +<p>I have a theory as to why this is so, I call it my "men are animals" +theory. Quite simply, we as a programming community are <em>incredibly</em> unfriendly +to any women that might want to contribute their valuable time and effort +in writing code for an Open Source/Free Software project. Women are +much more represented in the artistic (for a GUI-based system), documentation +and testing parts of a project than in the coding.</p> + +<p>My observation is that "alpha male geeks" working on the code +of a software project are extremely arrogant (or we can be polite and +call it <em>assertive</em>), unpleasant and confrontational with each other. +Most women find this kind of childishness so unpleasant that they leave +us in our playpen rather than have to deal with it as part of their +daily work. It doesn't help that most Open Source/Free Software code +discussions are done over email. Unfortunately email is a medium that +lends itself to anonymous hostility (after all you don't have to see +the face of the person you're attempting to humiliate) and the male-dominated +programmer community takes ample advantage of this. Just look at the +way some of the primary Linux kernel maintainers address people on the +Linux kernel mailing list to see examples of this behavior. Such people +are <em>admired</em> in our community. This behavior is not merely tolerated, +it's almost encouraged as a badge of showing you're <b>somebody</b>, that you +can get away with it.</p> + +<p>So why is this more endemic to the Open Source/Free Software communities +than proprietary software projects ? I have an answer to that too, it's +fairly simple. Human Resources departments (at least here in the USA, +in the UK they used to be called "Personnel Departments" which to +my mind sounds much better, less like a Soylent-Green style warehouse). +To be brutally honest, if people behaved in proprietary software environments +to others the way they behave in Open Source/Free Software mailing lists +they would be <b>fired</b>, terminated (to use the Americanism) with extreme +prejudice by the HR department of the company. People tell jokes about +"political correctness" and how "sensitive" such rules are, +but they <b>work</b>. I think the USA is ahead of the UK in this area. I recall +meeting a recent transferee from the UK who was blustering and appalled +at being threatened with termination for what he termed "extreme political +correctness". His crime ? He had been audibly rating his female colleagues +on a one to ten scale at a company party. How dumb do you have to be +to think this is acceptable ? Yet look at the follow-up comments on +Slashdot (considered a "friendly" web site in the Open Source/Free +Software communities) when a rare openly female poster makes a comment. +Ratings out of ten are the least of her worries.</p> +<p>Because our mailing lists are open to all, usually unmoderated, and +the people running them are rightly concerned about censorship it's +really difficult to be as strict about such things in the Open Source/Free +Software world as it is in the proprietary business world. But it's +worth a try in my opinion. For people who pride themselves on our own +intelligence we seem to be awfully comfortable in excluding fifty percent +of our potential colleagues and collaborators. If you want to be calculating +about it, this is millions of lines of potential code we're throwing +away here guys !</p> +<p>It's interesting to note that once a critical mass of women are in +an area, they seem to have a civilizing effect on the men, and the mailing +lists I'm on with more female participants on them than the Open Source/Free +Software ones have a decidedly different tone. We need the same thing +to happen in our community. It can be done. In my world travels I've +been to conferences where the numbers of women attendees approach the +male, most notably in Malaysia where IT is seen as a much more female +friendly occupation than in the USA or UK.</p> +<p>So how can we get to where we need to be ? I'm not normally a fan +of segregation, but until they can get to that unknown critical mass +it's much more comfortable for women to work together with women. In +the Science community there is the AWIS (Association of Women in Science) +group: <a href="http://www.awis.org">http://www.awis.org</a>. I was introduced +to them by a female Math +researcher, they were her lifeline in a community just as hostile to +women as the Open Source/Free Software one. We have LinuxChix (<a href="http://www.linuxchix.org">http://www.linuxchix.org</a>) +which attempts to do something similar for our field. I just hope that +within my career lifetime these groups can become part of our mainstream, +and our community can look forward to everyone who wants to joining +in fully. After all, programming is <b>fun</b>. Why shouldn't everyone have +a chance to do it !</p> + + +<ul style="list-style-type:none;margin:0;padding:0"> +<li>Jeremy Allison,</li> +<li>Samba Team.</li> +<li>San Jose, California.</li> +<li>29th October 2005.</li> +</ul> + + +<!--#include virtual="/samba/news/footer.html" --> Added: trunk/news/articles/low_point/column11.html =================================================================== --- trunk/news/articles/low_point/column11.html 2006-03-15 22:22:58 UTC (rev 930) +++ trunk/news/articles/low_point/column11.html 2006-03-17 20:06:18 UTC (rev 931) @@ -0,0 +1,130 @@ +<!--#include virtual="/samba/news/header.html" --> + <title>The Low Point -- Jeremy Allison Column Archive -- Column 11</title> +<!--#include virtual="jra_header2.html" --> + +<h3>Jeremy Allison Column Archives</h3> + +<h2>The Low Point — a View from the Valley — Column 11</h2> + +<h3>The Land of "Nothing for free"</h3> + +<p>On the map, Laguna Niguel looks like a beautiful Pacific coastal +area south of Los Angeles, a little like one of my favorite spots Monterey, +south of San Francisco. But I forgot; this is Los Angeles, where the +brown haze of the air lies like a thick blanket over the insane sprawl +of "Generica". It's an endless landscape of McDonalds, strip-malls +and gas stations familiar to anyone who has seen the movie "Ghost +World". Nothing is free here. You pay for parking (nothing but valet +available), driving on toll roads, access to much of the beach (private). +If they could figure out how to charge for the air I'm sure there'd +be meters every block or so. It's a fitting home for the entertainment +industry.</p> +<p>I was down there to give a talk on "Open Source Business Models" +for a conference. Also represented were entertainment industry lawyers, +"Big Telecom" management, and a smattering of software people. Microsoft +was there of course. You can't hold a church fete with "Open Source" +on the banner these days without Microsoft turning up and requesting +representation. At least we also had Bruce Perens on our side to help +make up the balance. The venue was an unbelievably expensive hotel. +Even though I was on expenses I balked at asking the company to pay +for a room there and found something cheaper (not by much) a few miles +down the road.</p> + +<p>Along with the collection of apologists for the "ultimate evils" +(tm) of Hollywood and Telephone companies there were some very interesting +presentations. A Japanese telecoms researcher made all the software +people jealous by describing the idyllic state of broadband in Japan, +where providers vie to sell gigabit fiber-optic pipes to the home. Yes, +you read that right, <em>Gigabit</em>. The obvious question was asked; "what +do people use all that bandwidth for" and the less than obvious answer +was that they use it for all the same things people in less bandwidth-friendly +countries do, they just do more of it. I could see a collective shudder +pass through the entertainment industry people. They knew what that +meant.</p> +<p>A keynote by Lawrence Lessig made the point even further. He showed +a series of "mash-ups" of copyrighted material which were incredibly +creative and funny. All completely illegal and currently being hunted +off the Internet by entertainment industry lawyers. One of the most +amusing asides was from a Walt Disney legal reply to a parent requesting +"fair use" rights to use some clips from a Disney movie to put in +his home video. He pleadingly promised them it was meant only for family +viewing. "We currently deny all requests to use our material....". +Even if you are impudent enough to ask, the answer is always no. At +least one of the other studios replied that the current commercial rate +was $700 to use a 30 second clip. I can see that being popular amongst +parents making home movies. He also covered the current patent quagmire. +A very interesting fact from his talk was that the total unit cost for +a Chinese manufacturer to build a DVD player was around $26. However +the total royalty fees they have to pay to western companies for the +patent rights to build a player is $21 per unit, thus completely eliminating +any profit they might make. No wonder the Chinese are currently creating +their own digital video standard, completely incompatible with Western +ones. It's the only thing that makes economic sense for them. This is +almost certainly behind the Chinese refusal to use the new WiFi standards +for wireless devices also.</p> +<p>I ended up making myself unpopular by publicly attacking the Washington-based +economist who'd advised the Clinton Administration on "Intellectual +Property" issues. It's a very personal issue for me as it affects +my everyday life and work, so when he made the statement that "strengthening +the patent system leads to more innovation for everyone" I saw red. +He doesn't write software of course. I tried to explain later in private +that it would be like people being able to patent economic theories +in his line of work. That began to hit home, but he explained that the +problem in Washington is that patents are heavily pushed to the politicians +by the Pharmaceutical Industry. "These guys say they're going to cure +cancer, what are <em>you</em> going to do for us ?" is the request that anti-software +patent lobbyists have to learn to counter. </p> +<p>My panel was rather uncontroversial, Microsoft, Bruce Perens and +myself being on our best behavior. The only sparks that flew where when +Microsoft made it abundantly clear that they would use their patent +portfolio to prevent the spread of GPL software. Section seven of the +GPL (the implicit patent grant of the license) now looks like the most +prescient writing Richard Stallman has ever done. If you're not familiar +with it I'd suggest you read it and understand why using the GPL to +protect your Free Software is so important.</p> +<p>Fireworks only exploded in the session on business models in the +Internet age for entertainment industry products (music CD's mainly). +This was even before the horrendous vandalism perpetrated by Sony on +Windows users by propagating a <em>rootkit</em> as part of a digital rights management +product on Sony CD's. Let's be clear, these people <em>hate</em> the Internet. +If they had a single-use time machine they'd rather use it to go back +in time and kill everyone responsible for creating TCP/IP than prevent +the Second World War. The movie industry sees what has happened with +CD's, looks at the gigabit bandwidth available in Japan and they know +they're next. They will do <em>anything</em> to prevent it, pass any law, remove +any civil right or fair use provision that gets in their way. I began +to understood this when I had a discussion with a lawyer who was arguing +that "we just need stiffer penalties, we need to make an <em>example</em> of +people swapping files on the Internet". To which I responded, "why +don't we just execute people who break the speed limit ?". Does anyone +remember the slogan that used to be printed on vinyl records, "Home +taping is illegal and is killing music" ?</p> +<p>When enough people decide that an activity is legal, in a democracy +such a thing eventually becomes legal. Look at the way the drug laws +have changed in Europe. It's a sign of how damaged American democracy +has become that the same thing hasn't happened here. The Internet is +a massive threat to some people, and if we don't fight to keep it, we +deserve to lose it. I'll end with a "fair use" quote from one of +my favorite 70's bands, Hawkwind which seems appropriate somehow, and +append one line of my own :</p> + +<ul style="list-style-type:none;margin:0;padding:0" class="credit"> + <li>Welcome to the oceans in a labeled can,</li> + <li>Welcome to the dehydrated lands,</li> + <li>Welcome to the self police parade,</li> + <li>Welcome to the neo-golden age,</li> + <li>Welcome to the days you've made</li> +</ul> + +<p>Welcome to the land of "Nothing for free".</p> + + +<ul style="list-style-type:none;margin:0;padding:0"> +<li>Jeremy Allison,</li> +<li>Samba Team.</li> +<li>San Jose, California.</li> +<li>20th November 2005.</li> +</ul> + + +<!--#include virtual="/samba/news/footer.html" --> Modified: trunk/news/articles/low_point/index.html =================================================================== --- trunk/news/articles/low_point/index.html 2006-03-15 22:22:58 UTC (rev 930) +++ trunk/news/articles/low_point/index.html 2006-03-17 20:06:18 UTC (rev 931) @@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ <li><a href="column07.html">Column 7 — The start-up bicycle</a></li> <li><a href="column08.html">Column 8 — Black is White</a></li> <li><a href="column09.html">Column 9 — Freedom Fighters</a></li> + <li><a href="column10.html">Column 10 — Macho Geek Madness</a></li> + <li><a href="column11.html">Column 11 — The Land of Nothing for Free</a></li> </ul> <p>The following article was rewritten for publication in Added: trunk/news/team/low_point_update_17Mar06.html =================================================================== --- trunk/news/team/low_point_update_17Mar06.html 2006-03-15 22:22:58 UTC (rev 930) +++ trunk/news/team/low_point_update_17Mar06.html 2006-03-17 20:06:18 UTC (rev 931) @@ -0,0 +1,16 @@ + <h3><a name="low_point_update_17Mar06">Low Point Archive Update</a></h3> + + <div class="article"> + <p>The <a href="/samba/news/articles/low_point/">Low Point Archives</a>, + a listing of Jeremy Allison's columns from + <a href="http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/">Linux User & Developer</a>, + have been updated with two new columns. Jeremy writes about women in + Open Source development in column 10, + <a href="/samba/news/articles/low_point/column10.html">Macho Geek Madness</a>. + And for an interesting read on bumping into the Entertainment industry at + a conference, see column 11, + <a href="/samba/news/articles/low_point/column11.html">The Land of "Nothing + for Free"</a>.</p> + + <p>An entertaining and insightful read as always.</p> + </div>