LinuxChix
Encyclopedia
LinuxChix is a women-oriented Linux
community. It is designed to provide both technical and social support for women Linux users, although men are encouraged to help and contribute. Members of the community are referred to as "a Linux chick" (singular) and "LinuxChix" or "Linux Chix" (plural) regardless of gender.
, but soon graduated into a community with regional chapters in several places around the world. In 1999 LinuxChix consisted of a single mailing list, grrltalk. The growth of this mailing list led to the establishment of other mailing lists, beginning with techtalk for technical discussions and issues for discussion of women's political issues. LinuxChix was first noticed when ZDNet
published an article on it, which was cross-posted on Slashdot
.
Deb Richardson ran LinuxChix until 2001, when she handed over global coordination and hosting to Melbourne programmer and writer Jenn Vesperman. Jenn Vesperman ran the community in a mostly hands-off fashion, delegating almost all tasks including mailing list administration and website maintenance to a group of volunteers. During Jenn Vesperman's tenure, the number of mailing lists tripled. Her tenure saw the foundation of the newchix mailing list for people new to Linux; the courses mailing list used by Linux Chix to teach each other specific topics; and the grrls-only mailing list, the only list closed to male subscribers, founded by Val Henson in 2002. At around the same time, a LinuxChix IRC server was created.
The term LinuxChix refers to the organisation centered around the official website, the mailing lists and the IRC channels. The organisation has no official status and the name is used by other groups which are comparatively loosely affiliated with the original LinuxChix group, including local LinuxChix chapters which meet in person, and several national and continental groups which operate more or less independently.
In March 2007, Jenn Vesperman announced that she was retiring as the coordinator, and invited nominations for a new LinuxChix coordinator. In April 2007 Mary Gardiner was announced as the new coordinator, and planned to serve as coordinator until 2009, however she resigned in June 2007. Currently it is led by three lead volunteers known as the "Tres Chix" who are elected by popular vote. The current coordinators from August 2007 onwards are Sulamita Garcia, Akkana Peck, and Carla Schroder.
Africa
Asia
Australasia and Oceania
Chicas Linux
Europe
North America
South America
at UNSW. Many chapters also organize events on special occasions; for eg., in 2005, LinuxChix Africa organized an event to celebrate Software Freedom Day
at Wits University.
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
community. It is designed to provide both technical and social support for women Linux users, although men are encouraged to help and contribute. Members of the community are referred to as "a Linux chick" (singular) and "LinuxChix" or "Linux Chix" (plural) regardless of gender.
Foundation
LinuxChix was started in 1998-99 by Deb Richardson, who was a technical writer and web-master at an open source consulting firm. Her reason for founding LinuxChix was to create an alternative to the "locker room mentality" of other Linux User Groups and forums. LinuxChix discussion is meant to follow two principles:- Be polite.
- Be helpful.
Leadership and structure
LinuxChix started out as an electronic mailing listElectronic mailing list
An electronic mailing list is a special usage of email that allows for widespread distribution of information to many Internet users. It is similar to a traditional mailing list — a list of names and addresses — as might be kept by an organization for sending publications to...
, but soon graduated into a community with regional chapters in several places around the world. In 1999 LinuxChix consisted of a single mailing list, grrltalk. The growth of this mailing list led to the establishment of other mailing lists, beginning with techtalk for technical discussions and issues for discussion of women's political issues. LinuxChix was first noticed when ZDNet
ZDNet
ZDNet is a business technology news website published by CBS Interactive, along with TechRepublic and SmartPlanet. The brand was founded on April 1, 1991 as a general interest technology portal from Ziff Davis and evolved into an enterprise IT-focused online publication owned by CNET...
published an article on it, which was cross-posted on Slashdot
Slashdot
Slashdot is a technology-related news website owned by Geeknet, Inc. The site, which bills itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters", features user-submitted and ‑evaluated current affairs news stories about science- and technology-related topics. Each story has a comments section...
.
Deb Richardson ran LinuxChix until 2001, when she handed over global coordination and hosting to Melbourne programmer and writer Jenn Vesperman. Jenn Vesperman ran the community in a mostly hands-off fashion, delegating almost all tasks including mailing list administration and website maintenance to a group of volunteers. During Jenn Vesperman's tenure, the number of mailing lists tripled. Her tenure saw the foundation of the newchix mailing list for people new to Linux; the courses mailing list used by Linux Chix to teach each other specific topics; and the grrls-only mailing list, the only list closed to male subscribers, founded by Val Henson in 2002. At around the same time, a LinuxChix IRC server was created.
The term LinuxChix refers to the organisation centered around the official website, the mailing lists and the IRC channels. The organisation has no official status and the name is used by other groups which are comparatively loosely affiliated with the original LinuxChix group, including local LinuxChix chapters which meet in person, and several national and continental groups which operate more or less independently.
In March 2007, Jenn Vesperman announced that she was retiring as the coordinator, and invited nominations for a new LinuxChix coordinator. In April 2007 Mary Gardiner was announced as the new coordinator, and planned to serve as coordinator until 2009, however she resigned in June 2007. Currently it is led by three lead volunteers known as the "Tres Chix" who are elected by popular vote. The current coordinators from August 2007 onwards are Sulamita Garcia, Akkana Peck, and Carla Schroder.
Regional chapters
LinuxChix allows local groups following its principles to use its name. Currently the regional chapters listed on the Linuxchix website for each country are:Africa
- African Linuxchix homepage : In 2004 a new chapter started in Africa
Asia
- India : In July 2005, Archana Raghupathy started the Indian chapter LinuxChix-India. Besides the website wiki they have a mailing list and an IRC channel #indichix hosted on irc.linuxchix.org servers.
- Indonesia
- Malaysia : FOSSchix.my founded in September 2008, started in a chatroom among OSS enthusiasts when discussing how LinuxChix doesn't have a chapter in Malaysia. Feeling that Linux can be a bit intimidating for newbies, FOSSchix is adopted instead.
- Philippines
Australasia and Oceania
- Australia : In March 2007, on the International Women's DayInternational Women's DayInternational Women's Day , originally called International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and...
, Australia's two LinuxChix chapters united to form a nationwide LinuxChix chapter called "AussieChix". - New Zealand : In 2007, the New Zealand chapter was established.
Chicas Linux
- Chicas Linux is a community created by women with the goal of offering a meeting space for people with a common interest in Linux and free software.
Europe
- France
- Italy
- Lithuania
- London, England
- Poland
North America
- Canada : Ottawa, Saskatchewan, Sherbrooke/Québec, and Vancouver/British Columbia.
- United States : Colorado Springs, Colorado ; Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas ; Denver, Colorado ; Los Angeles, California ; Madison, Wisconsin ; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Seattle, Washington ; Silicon Valley, California ; Washington, District of Columbia.
South America
- Brazil
- Peru
Events
Some local LinuxChix chapters hold regular meetings, others only meet up on special occasions, such as welcoming a Linuxchix member into town, or in conjunction with various technical conferences. In 2007 members of the Sydney chapter organized a LinuxChix miniconf at linux.conf.auLinux.conf.au
linux.conf.au is Australasia's regional Linux and Open Source conference. It is a roaming conference, held in a different city every year, coordinated by Linux Australia and organised by local volunteers....
at UNSW. Many chapters also organize events on special occasions; for eg., in 2005, LinuxChix Africa organized an event to celebrate Software Freedom Day
Software Freedom Day
Software Freedom Day is an annual worldwide celebration of Free Software. SFD is a public education effort with the aim of increasing awareness of Free Software and its virtues, and encouraging its use....
at Wits University.