LGBT Ubuntu subforum

[po0f]

sethmahoney,

... By way of a hypothetical example, suppose there were a number of LGBT users interested in samba. That could provide the Ubuntu community with a user base who could be mobilized into providing useful GTK apps for samba configuration. ...

As opposed to all of the Ubuntu users interested in Samba? Are gay people more inherently motivated into coding apps than straight people?

... but the point is that smaller communities can often be mobilized into doing things that larger communities tend to let stagnate. ...

It really just takes one person to start a project for it to take off. Look at Linux.

The only initiative I see being taken on these forums into doing anything for "the community" is in requesting new subforums, further splintering the community. "We're a part of the community too, give us our own space away from everyone else!" is all I'm hearing.

... but about software that LGBT users might happen to be interested in. ...

How does sexual preference influence software preference?

What's the difference in asking the whole community (via Cafe/Backyard/whatever) a question, and asking the LGBT community? I'll tell you: You're limiting the responses that you might potentially receive. You're tailoring your audience to suit your own needs (your own needs? I thought the whole idea was to be a selfless act, not a selfish one). You're segregating yourselves to your own niche. And here I thought the point was to not segregate yourselves.

[bruenig]

I still don't understand nor has it been sufficiently shown that sexual preference will or even could affect software choice. I understand your point sethmahoney, but there simply is no reason to think a gay person would have software needs different from a straight person or even that a gay person would have particular software preferences. They would vary in proportion to anyone else. There is nothing about a computer or ubuntu or software that is really in anyway biased or more appealing to a sexual preference. It would be like saying we need to have a gay pi and a straight pi. Pi is pi regardless of who is using it.

Also I still see such a devotion to gay software or gay software preferences or whatever that may be as being offensive as it inherently stipulates a that sexual preference makes someone in all aspects of life different. Difference in sexual preferences does not translate into difference in software choices or preferences. They are exclusive.

[sethmahoney]

I still don't understand nor has it been sufficiently shown that sexual preference will or even could affect software choice. I understand your point sethmahoney, but there simply is no reason to think a gay person would have software needs different from a straight person or even that a gay person would have particular software preferences. They would vary in proportion to anyone else. There is nothing about a computer or ubuntu or software that is really in anyway biased or more appealing to a sexual preference. It would be like saying we need to have a gay pi and a straight pi. Pi is pi regardless of who is using it.

Also I still see such a devotion to gay software or gay software preferences or whatever that may be as being offensive as it inherently stipulates a that sexual preference makes someone in all aspects of life different. Difference in sexual preferences does not translate into difference in software choices or preferences. They are exclusive.

I guess I wasn't clear. I'm not suggesting any link whatsoever, but that any group may use software differently, be interested in different aspects of software, as a matter of chance. There are scientific studies that back me up here, which suggest that women tend to think about software in different ways than men, that older people tend to use computers differently (are attracted to different interfaces, etc.) than younger people, etc. What I'm trying to say here is that we should take advantage of any differences we might find.

And, of course, that is just one part of my argument.

[trash]

I've come across three peices of software for linux developed by LGBT, we would be the first Distro to openly welcome them(as far as I know).
So sorry I can't remember the software by name, though Jimmy did mention one, i'll try to dig up the others.

[po0f]

I've come across three peices of software for linux developed by LGBT, we would be the first Distro to openly welcome them(as far as I know).
So sorry I can't remember the software by name, though Jimmy did mention one, i'll try to dig up the others.

I use software based on my needs, not who coded it. I openly welcome any program that makes my life easier, coded by anybody.

I'd still be interested in the project names though. Let's just see how much better LGBT people can code better than me! (wouldn't take much )

[ShanghaiTeej]

I still don't understand nor has it been sufficiently shown that sexual preference will or even could affect software choice. I understand your point sethmahoney, but there simply is no reason to think a gay person would have software needs different from a straight person or even that a gay person would have particular software preferences. They would vary in proportion to anyone else. There is nothing about a computer or ubuntu or software that is really in anyway biased or more appealing to a sexual preference. It would be like saying we need to have a gay pi and a straight pi. Pi is pi regardless of who is using it.

Also I still see such a devotion to gay software or gay software preferences or whatever that may be as being offensive as it inherently stipulates a that sexual preference makes someone in all aspects of life different. Difference in sexual preferences does not translate into difference in software choices or preferences. They are exclusive.

I couldn't agree more. I also think that that reasons behind creating a LGBT sub-forum or any type of Ubuntu related forum is a gross and unfair generalization on people who happen to be homosexual. I fail to see how someone's sexual, attraction or gender preferences affect Ubuntu. I think separation, as opposed to inclusion, creates an absence of much needed educational opportunities for any circumstance.

[lazyart]

What does this really accomplish? Everyone is already welcome here.

I'm half American Indian (Cherokee) and half African American and the parent of mulatto children. I don't see a subforum here for either of my heritages, nor is there a Half-Indian/Half-African-American-with-Mulatto-Children-Who-Votes-Democrat Forum.

This is Linux for Human Beings. Not Gay Human Beings, not One-Legged Human Beings and Not Half-Indian/Half-African-American-with-Mulatto-Children-Who-Votes-Democrat Human Beings.

If you spawn off a seperate distro and have specific issues then I'm all for it. If a group has specific needs that differ from the general community, then please open the forum yesterday.

What are the special needs that the LGBT community has that are lacking or overlooked in the Ubuntu Distro?

I think it's safe to say everyone is welcome. If you create a new subforum, will it stop the wisecrack responses that we saw in the gaybuntu post? I think not.

Here, the LGBT folks are just like anyone else.



Isn't that the ultimate goal?

[Zyphrexi]

can I have a straight person forum too?

hmm pi is a number... i don't believe it has a sexual preference. Or do numerical values reproduce asexually?

[Ubunted]

to help make linux and Ubuntu specifically more friendly toward all the non-hetero folk around here,

How exactly is it NOT friendly?

I'm not a homophobe, I just feel the same way I did when the "Gay character in Star Trek" rumors started flying around - what's the point?

[towsonu2003]

I support the idea of an LGBT forum, as well as an LGBT emailing list and an LGBT launchpad team.

I recently saw this: http://digg.com/linux_unix/Gaybuntu_...untu_gay_scene

There were a lot of "that is separatism / segregation" posts there. I saw a couple here too. I even saw similar messages in Ubuntu Women forum subsection (against that specific subsection of the forum), so it's a quite common but an ignorant[1] argument against such group.

I am quoting my message at digg.com entry, which might clarify what's going on for some people who are not very literate[1] about oppression and politics.

I think this same quote could also clarify why I think most of the objections I see in this thread are wrong...

Interesting. Those who are burying this, thinking that it's "ridiculous" or "segregating" should note that oppressed groups can be drawn to a new community easier if a group that specifically supports them is already present.

Also, I am (not) stunned by the ignorance on oppression here. "Segregation" is "segregation" only if the oppressing group segregates the oppressed group. Examples:
1. If women are cast by men to their homes: that's segregation. Women are oppressed by men...
1.a If women decide to form a "national organization for women": that's not segregation.
2. If blacks are cast by whites outside public spaces: that's segregation
2.a If blacks decide to form a "black power" group: that's not segregation.
3. If linux users cast gays and lesbians away from the community by labeling them (and others) as "faggots" or "tomboys": that's segregation
3.a if gay linux users decide to form a "gaybuntu" group: that's not segregation

For those who still don't get it: 1, 2, and 3 are forms of oppression; 1.a, 2.a, and 3.a are efforts of resistance against the dominant group / culture. It's also a means of founding a secure place to go to [(having a support group of one's own)].

[1] I do not use "ignorant" and "illiterate" in a demeaning, derogatory way. To the contrary, it is very common for those in privileged positions to have no real idea about oppression of relatively (to them) under-privileged groups.

[serious off-topic ahead]
By the way, I saw great comments at gaybuntu forums. I think it is hilariously clever to have lgbt artwork, lgbt language packs etc in ubuntu as installable packages. adding such features is a great idea, and a ubuntu-lgbt-team at launchpad.net could coordinate such development efforts.
[/serious off-topic ends - ignore this part in replies]