And what of all of the qualified developers who are excluded from the community by ignorant or bigoted people in positions of power? What of their technological ability?
Not trying to be a dick here, but in the hypothetical "on the internet nobody knows who you are", why would you need to specify if you're a man or a woman?
I've personally always loved the interactions I've had on the internet back in the 90s-early 00s because someone's opinions/contributions could be analysed objectively without having to fall into the trap of subconscious biases based on the person you're speaking to rather than the object of discussion.
This is not to negate your feelings of being under-appreciated or respected because of your gender, but I am genuinely curious as to why your first response in this scenario would be to fake your gender rather than not caring about it.
The point is presumably that online interactions do not form the totality of a career or working life in software.
Yeah, here on HN you don't need to care whether I'm a man, woman, chocolate bar or UFO. In the real world when I take a CS course, go to a conference, take a job etc, having my physical form is pretty useful.
You are talking about a brilliant man actually getting fired, vs some hypothetical what-if that hasn't been proven.
Why not go after actual occurrences of discrimination, rather than assuming anytime some speaks out in a non-PC manner, that it means they are also going to discriminate against others? This is arresting for murder before it happens. It's the canonical example of "thought crime".
Tons of women are describing his shitty behavior over the years and how they were told to avoid him. "Christ, why would I want to work there near this guy" leading to women leaving the community produces the same outcome as organized discrimination.
If RMS had just thought this stuff in his head he'd be fine. His actions harm the community. This is the exact opposite of a "thought crime".
