Linux Fund and anti-harassment policy

[ Thanks to Amber
Graner for this link. ]

“”What does an organization’s anti-harassment policy —
or lack of one — say about it? Is a policy as meaningless as a
mission statement, or does the willingness to have one reflect an
organization’s values and how it operates? How an organization
answers such questions can directly effect on how it is perceived,
as well as its ability to operate, as a recent semi-public
discussion about Linux Fund clearly shows.

“Linux Fund is a non-profit organization set up to distribute
funds to free and open source software projects and events, chiefly
through an affinity credit card program. A few years after it was
founded in 1999, the organization became dormant. In 2005,
Linux.com staff member Jay Lyman reported that funds were still
being collected, and shortly afterwards, Linux Fund was reorganized
by an entirely new group of directors.

“Since then, Linux Fund has became a registered non-profit, and
has restarted its credit card program in the United States,while
adding similar Canadian and United Kingdom programs, as well as one
for BSD.

“This latest incarnation of Linux Fund has developed a
reputation for misogyny that partly seems to have grown in the
telling. At OSCON in 2009, it hosted a party attended by several
uninvited, inappropriately dressed women on the catering staff, an
incident that gave rise to rumors that Linux Fund had hired escorts
to entertain guests.”

Complete Story