A belated report on the mini-summit on women in free software

“Nicholson explains that the summit focused on the issue from
the FSF’s position as a social justice movement like recycling and
environmentalism. “When I look at the work that we do,” Nicholson
says, “I think we really ought to have allies among organizations
that are working on related social justice issues. The absence of
these allies is almost glaring at times. Then, when I think of why
that might be, and what their first glance at us might suggest, I
realize that, ‘Oh, right, that’s why we don’t have those
allies.'”

“In fact, the low involvement of women in free software —
reportedly, about 1.5% — is so inconsistent with free software’s
goals for empowering the individual that Nicholson jokes, “We might
as well put up a blinking banner on our site saying, ‘We throw away
paper, and we love Exxon.’ Ignoring women while trying to be a
social justice movement is not productive, and it’s hurting
us.”

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