Storms and Teacups
acko.net
acko.net
Linus gets away with talking to people like that for the same reason Marco Pierre White got away with throwing a pot full of hot risotto at Mario Batali: because he is a revered auteur.
You are not Marco Pierre White or Steve Jobs, acting like them is not a step in the direction of becoming more like them, and social forces in your workplace that keep you from throwing risotto or hurling obscenities at your coworkers are in fact doing you a favor. They are not a symptom of prickly gender sensitivities.
I had the same problem to varying degrees with other parts of this article, which (with only minimal pejorative intent) I'd describe as mostly shit-stirring. But the Linus/Mauro thing seemed as good a place to make my case as any.
That wasn't his point at all. Personally, I think Linus' behavior is ridiculous and counter-productive.
The article's point seemed to be, quite simply, that if the target of Linus' rant was a woman, it would have instigated a massive gender debate, rather than simply leaving most adults to shake their head at his poor ability to communicate firmly AND politely.
> I had the same problem to varying degrees with other parts of this article, which (with only minimal pejorative intent) I'd describe as mostly shit-stirring.
With only "minimal pejorative intent:" that's how I usually perceive most of your comments. They're always written in an clear, authoritative voice, even when said authority is not justified by experience or credentials, and the comments seem tuned for the purpose of declarative "shit stirring" through tone and content.
And, while there are certainly quotes that could be misconstrued, I had a hard time seeing how anyone could take away part of this without at least acknowledging the rest. Yes, the author touches on some uncomfortable topics. Yes, I can see how someone might find parts upsetting, or even offensive. At the very least, not everyone will agree with every point Wittens makes.
But the take-away, at least for me, was how vast the grey area is between the "sides" of these topics, and also how much of what we perceive (about people, sexism, and the tech industry as a whole) happens within a bubble. That there are a ton of related and important issues in the wider context, which fail to get addressed when the discussions are too narrow in scope.
I'm sure there are plenty of other take-aways too, and perhaps I'm missing something that someone else will point out, but overall I found this piece really refreshing, especially after a the other discussions I've read lately, on HN and elsewhere.
It's impossible to write a piece such as this without any hints of bias and/or privilege, I think Steven has done a great job of looking at a lot of the recent incidents we've had around gender in tech, and trying to pull a common thread out of them.
It's a very interesting article, and obviously well thought out and well timed, and makes lots of very good points. One thing that particularly resonated was this statement at the end:
> The most reasonable people are now afraid to speak their mind. They rightly fear > being shamed and harassed by those who scream the loudest of abuse. I've debated > writing about this for a while, because I know what a certain part of the > response will be. But I'm not the only one saying it, so I'm doing it here, once, > in full length, with honest citations, after discussion with people of > experience. Women and men, in case you're wondering. > "Good luck" was a common theme.
It'll be interesting what the general take on it appears to be, once the internet has reduced it down to a couple of choice quotes for each side to rally behind.
It's just an anecdote, but I think this situation emphasizes how much of the debate on gender issues is very tinted by personal feelings and morals. Men are responding according to their feelings, women are responding according to their feelings, transgender people are responding according to their feelings. And these feelings include a lot of resentment unrelated to the matters at hand.
For example, I tweeted this very article a couple of hours ago - and I've had people tell me it's nothing but "simultaneously trolling one side of an argument while patting the backs of the other side" to "thoughtfully written and makes a some worthwhile points, but also a lot therein to disagree with" and even "some good points, but do we really need to play the "but women aren't predisposed to technology" card?"
An article like this, and the events that happened themselves - everyone is going to view it with their own rose-tinted glasses, and no one is going to be happy.
All this discussion of who heard who tell what joke, or who tweeted what when, or who should have responded differently, are mostly just distractions.
I can't. I keep on scrolling back at the top to play with that completely over-the-top 3D-transforming header. Man that thing is gorgeous, and completely destroys any hope of sitting down to actually read an article on this site.
Hah!