Linux Chix

Today is International Women’s Day and its a day to praise and celebrate the women who have made a difference in our world. I would like to pay homage to all the members of LinuxChix. LinuxChix is an international community of women who love Linux. It has regional chapters in many parts of the globe. The principal goal of LinuxChix is “to give women who use or are interested in learning about Linux a way to meet other women with similar interests.”

The latest chapter to open is AussieChix. It was launched today to coincide with the International Women’s Day celebration. The AussieChix community is “aimed at providing ways for women living in Australia to meet each other, talk about, and get involved in Linux, Free Software and related things.” And it is inviting all the geek girls, digital girls, nerdy girls, ladies of the Command Line, and femmes for Free Software to join the growing community.

At the moment it seems that men who use Linux outnumber their female counterpart. Many of the women I’ve urged to try Linux said that Linux appears to be too difficult for a regular user. Yet I have also met women who measure up to their male peers’ obsession with Linux. In my workplace there are two women who use Linux on a daily basis. One finds it easy, the other still finds it difficult even if she has been using Freespire for almost a year now. Well, you can say that it must be the problem of the user, not the operating system. But then again, I still think that the Linux world needs the input of women.

Women have a different perspective, a unique way of doing things that, say, if it was a woman who designed Gnome or KDE, the default installation might look and feel different from the way they look and feel now. That is why I am glad that there exists a community like LinuxChix. These chix are a real blessing to the Linux landscape. Like the many women of the past who have revolutionized predominantly-male institutions, LinuxChix will be able to bring better changes to Linux and Free Software communities worldwide. They have so much to contribute to creating and sustaining active and participative communities as well as to collaborate on developing and promoting locally adapted Free Sofware products, while at the same time receive help, support, and gather new ideas through international networks.

Now, when will AsiaChix or PinayChix start to organize?