So how did I start on this open source journey?
In the late 1990s, I was a fresh Computer Science graduate. Australia had recently come out of a recession, and the market was starting to be glutted with graduates like me. I was expecting to become a software developer. But about a hundred job applications and five interviews later, I got an entry-level sysadmin role. I became part of a team managing Windows file and print servers, one midrange server that ran an operating system that was neither Windows nor UNIX… and one brand spanking new Sun Microsystems midrange computer running SunOS 4. It became my first UNIX love.
Not long after, the I.T. infrastructure management was outsourced to a managed services provider (MSP). The new organisation had a strictly silo’ed approach. Our team of sysadmins was split across different specialities. I ended up in the Midrange/UNIX team.
And that’s how my specialisation in the UNIX and Linux space began.
International Women’s Day 2022’s theme is #BreakTheBias
We might get tired of hearing the same old report of how under-represented women are in science and technology. And is it really true, and why does it matter anyway?
Well, here’s a real life example. I worked for almost 25 years in tech. At least 24 of those years were focused on UNIX and, later, Linux. In all those years, I’ve had a grand total of 3 other female colleagues working in UNIX and Linux with me. I’ve had more female managers than colleagues.
That’s not to say there weren’t many women in the organisations I worked for. Just that the majority of them were in non-technical roles. Even database and app-development teams I’ve worked with have had a significantly large male majority, though they had more female representation than the UNIX and Linux space had.
There are many theories out there on this gender disparity in tech. Future post coming up on this – and also why this gender disparity matters anyway.
For now, ’nuff said. Bring on #BreakTheBias.
geek girl, linux land 