Python Open Mike

One of the early results from the dialog the Python community is having about diversity issues is a new blog – Python Open Mike.  The idea is that there are folks out there who have something to say that’s relevant to the Python community, but who don’t necessarily keep a blog themselves.  Open Mike is a venue for their posts.    It’s moderated, but easy to post to via email, and syndicated on Planet Python.  Though it came out of the diversity mailing list, it’s not intended to be restricted to diversity issues.  So if you have something to say about Python and are disinclined for whatever reason to set up your own, feel free to step up to the Mike!

-Leigh

My posse of heroines

I’m going to buck the trend and not name names on my post for Ada Lovelace Day 2009.  Instead I want to salute the women of the Ubuntu Women project for making participating in Ubuntu and in Open Source software in general just a little more supportive, friendly, and welcoming.  Unless one comes into our spaces to troll or harass, in which case the banhammers are swiftly dealt 🙂

Over the years (and it’s been years now!) I’ve hung out in #ubuntu-women on freenode, participated in the mailing list, and run into U-W participants at conferences around the world.  Through this, I’ve gained an invaluable support network, a place to vent to my peers, a great group of male allies (by which I mean guys who support the U-W project), and a bunch of fantastic friends.

Ada Lovelace Day is all about role models, and I couldn’t ask for a better bunch of women to look up to than the ones I hang out with every day in #ubuntu-women.  Thanks for all the great conversations, and let’s keep working hard on bug number 1!

I would be remiss to not mention my friend Behdad Esfahbod’s post for ALD, because he picked me to write about.  I’m delighted and honoured that he wrote about me. ETA: looks like Joey DeVilla and Karen Fung did too!

-Leigh