Re: Diversity statement for the Debian Project
Joerg Jaspert <email@example.com> writes:
> On 12794 March 1977, Francesca Ciceri wrote:
>> a recent discussion  on Debian Women mailing list made me realize
>> that the Debian Project, the *Universal* Operating System, doesn't have
>> a diversity statement .
> Why do we need such a statement? Are we doing something better or worse
> with/without it, does it change anything?
It's a statement of ideals. Statements of ideals don't generally change
things in the way that, oh, code or even enforced policies change things.
The influence is at best subtle. But I think statements of ideals are
useful things to have because they help people think about ideals, and
remember that the ideals are important, and that we can all do something
to live up to those ideals. And that that can be as significant of an
action as fixing a technical bug.
I know that when I run across the Dreamwidth one and re-read it, it means
something to me, and it subtlely makes my behavior towards others better
for a while.
I think it's fine if the statement of ideals doesn't really mean much to
some; heaven knows that I'm often not in the mood for them, and when I'm
not, they seem like a bunch of fluff. But I do think it can have a
subtle, long-term effect.
Russ Allbery (firstname.lastname@example.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>