On 3/23/21 10:20 AM, Bart Martens wrote: > Hello DPL candidates, > > A question about diversity. We all know that some profiles are > underrepresented: gender, etnic group, disability, age, sexual preference, > education degree, rich/poor, spoken & written languages... > > 1/ One way of addressing this, is actively BENEFIT the underrepresented > profiles. Positive discriminiation is needed, at least to get over an initial > resistance. Put diversity in the spotlights, to speed up improvement. > > 2/ Another way is active NEUTRALITY treating everyone alike. No > discrimination, > positive nor negative. Make room for diversity to evolve. Diversity > matters, although in the shadow of free software. > > 3/ ... ? > > Now the QUESTION ---> What is your view on this? Your preferred approach? What > is the priority of diversity? Practical action points, how to measure > progress? > > Best regards, > > Bart If we are to compare, it is my view that we did a lot (too much?) for gender diversity, and really not enough for etnic group diversity. Just go and see how many DD per million there is in China, India, and Africa, and you will have to agree. Alf of the planet isn't represented.
If we'll have "a delegated team focusing on diversity" that focuses on gender and sexual preference, then I'd be against it. Debian is about promoting free software, not about promoting (any) sexual preference (and don't get me wrong: I have nothing against any group...). Debian is just IMO *not* the place to do that at this level, and I believe we're welcoming enough for every of these related group of people. The message has been sent, and the message is clear enough (hell, we even voted for a statement about diversity...). I can't believe there's people of such groups feeling oppressed in Debian after all that has been done. Welcoming everyone is hopefully the norm in Debian already. If that team focuses on countries of origin, with in mind just promotion of Debian and teaching how to contribute, I'd feel much better about such team, especially because there's so many ways we can act for it, for example getting in touch with local universities. A famous Redmond company does it, why not Debian? Though does this need to be an *appointed* team, and does this need the DPL help? I'm not sure... In general, I don't think diversity should be the main DPL's focus, as I don't think the DPL has magic powers to make it happen more than any motivated DD would. In this regard, I feel Sruthi's platform kind of "light", because it's also not addressing what a DPL role is: - appointing teams - representing Debian (interviews, medias, etc...) - managing funds - resolving conflicts Sruthi, any comment? Please let me know where I'm wrong, as it feels like you probably do not agree with me. Cheers, Thomas Goirand
