The Python community is both incredibly diverse (Python 3.1's release manager was not yet eighteen years old) and incredibly lacking in diversity (none of the regular committers is a woman). Kirrily Robert gave a keynote at OSCON last week about women in Open Source, and I blogged about the lunchtime aftermath (if you're not familiar with the issues, I suggest making sure to follow all the links I included): http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=263671 Thinking further, I believe that the Python community really needs to be more active in creating diversity. As my blog says, the first step is for us to admit that there is a problem. I believe that the next step is for us as a community to make a formal statement supporting diversity. I've created a new mailing list (diversity@python.org) to discuss the wording of a diversity statement, along with discussing diversity issues in general. I invite anyone interested in the subject of diversity to join the list -- even if you disagree that actively supporting diversity is needed, I would like a chance to convince you. http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/diversity Please note that I believe that the Python community is generally welcoming and that the Python community would jump on anyone who behaved in an overtly prejudiced way (unlike some controversies in other communities). However, I think that we have also inherited the lack of diversity in Open Source as a whole, and I believe that taking a more active role in building diversity will build a more vibrant Python community. After all, as Kirrily pointed out, the more inclusive we are, the more people we have working on Python. I just started a new job this week, so I'm not going to be pushing this any time soon -- but I also feel that I need to throw this out so that other people can get involved if they want. -- Aahz (aahz@pythoncraft.com) <*> http://www.pythoncraft.com/ "Many customs in this life persist because they ease friction and promote productivity as a result of universal agreement, and whether they are precisely the optimal choices is much less important." --Henry Spencer