DropBox Alternatives For Linux

[kerravonsen]

Thought I might as well share my investigations: http://kerravonsen.dreamwidth.org/942632.html

Comments

[jewelfox]

I don't like the idea of forcing someone to use tools that don't fit their lifestyle and workflow. But I feel that that's what many free software communities are all about, is privileging the kinds of people whose lifestyles and workflows fit existing tools and insulting / marginalizing people whose don't. I feel that a lot of the outcry about things like GNOME and Fedora's changes is that of privileged people having their privilege taken away from them, and having to learn a handful of new things so that many, many people don't have to make their brains fit into places they can't.

I'd rather not inconvenience anyone if possible, but my sympathies are with those who are currently being left out. I feel that there is a great deal of unspoken contempt for nontechnical users in many free software communities, and the ones that I have the most respect for are the ones that put the most effort into reducing cognitive overhead, technical / cultural knowledge requirements, and other obstacles to accessibility. It disgusts me to see things like white cismale hackers plastering the Fedora logo over their hackergotchis' mouths in protest against the idea of Girl Scouts on their system.

[kerravonsen]

Indeed, the dark underbelly of FLOSS is truly ugly and horrible. I don't know the incident to which you are referring, but I am alas not surprised. There are only two FLOSS projects I am aware of that are female-welcoming, and that's Archive-of-our-own and Dreamwidth. The others at best are neutral.

I don't have much respect for projects that are deliberately elitist and newbie-hostile. Even though I'm not a newbie, they are unpleasant places to be, and I have no desire to contribute to them.

[jewelfox]

GNOME has actually been a lot of fun to work with. They run an outreach program for women that's explicitly trans-inclusive, and that actually pays women to work on the project. I spent my summer working on GNOME's JavaScript developer docs, and am hoping to mentor someone in the next round. GNOME's executive director is a woman, and I think the last one was as well.

I know GNOME isn't your preferred desktop, but I personally love it and it's also the one I'd feel most comfortable giving to a newbie. I feel that free software like it, which puts a high priority on being accessible to everyone, is very important to have around.