Comment by knowtheory | Hacker News Reader

Comment by knowtheory | Hacker News Reader

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I think they will find it to be as close a meritocracy and "color-blind" environment as they will find in America today

In this thread: Lies open source developers tell themselves.

It's a sad joke Rubyconf attendees yearly confuse @bryanl and @daksis with each other, but it's happened at every Rubyconf i've been too (which is granted 3 but it's there).

Open Source is a community, and communities are about who you know, and how you interact with them. Open Source communities do nothing to fix or address the structural or cultural elements of racism.

Success in open source is like success in anything else. It's about building something that other people care about, and promoting yourself and your work to others (or having someone else promote it for you). That last component is entirely socio-cultural. There is no meritocratic component to it.

It's again worth noting that the modern etymology of the term 'meritocracy' was satire against the concept we identify it with: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy#Etymology

Being good at what you do and working hard is necessary but not sufficient to being recognized and successful.

You and goggles99 are coming at me from opposite ends of the racist ideologue spectrum, whereas my view is more nuanced.

Did I saw open-source was a panacea? No, I did not. I just said it was better than most other power structures in America. Why? Because code talks. Just because most engineers dislike political correctness and aren't doing anything to right structural inequities permeating our society doesn't mean they are racist. If they are passively supporting racist structures just by being white and operating within them, okay, that's a minor strike against them and feel free to slather on the white guilt, but it pales in comparison to the typical old boys club operations of most power structures in America.

Obviously open source has cliques and insiders as well, but that's based on a history of actual work and participation. I think the idea that a black man coming and jumping into open source is going to be at a disadvantage because of his race is not credible.

Who and who, and how is it illustrative? For the non-rubyists.

Two prominent Rubyists who happen to be simultaneously black.

https://twitter.com/bryanl

https://twitter.com/daksis

I hope they continue being simultaneous for a long time then ... Not being in the Ruby community, I've never seen either of them but I'd love to tell them "live long and prosper".

One caveat though ... I'm horrible with names and faces. This includes plenty of white people who happen to look alike. Fortunately I'm to the point where I can pick my wife and kids out of a crowd. Is this a common affliction among people who pursue software?

:) the "simultaneous" thing was me being cheeky.

But on a more serious note, I can see where being "the black guy" would get tiresome fast. Or being mistaken for "the other black guy". Don't know if that would cause a person to quit the OSS world, but it's probably not a highlight.

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