Prioritising the Safety of Women is the Best Approach to Foster Diversity in Technical Communities
Daniel Pocock, who recently made a splash by throwing his hat into politics (a coveted political ring), has begun writing about DebConf26. It's a difficult subject because of the angle he has chosen to focus on - with the likes of Drew DeVault and Brodie Robertson collecting pedo cartoons, then Debian (despite being fully aware) platforming Jeremy Bicha.
As a Debian user myself, who uses it on the server and on the laptops, I am not comfortable with this. My wife too uses Debian. Years ago Bicha was still giving DebConf talks, even as recently as the revelations resurfacing. Debian cannot possibly claim to have not known. Nobody would believe Debian, whose leader is a low-profile and second-class (no election won, it was an appointment of someone's partner).
The Bicha situation is not a "rotten apple". Pocock has covered many other such conundrums, as did we.
There are many "Bichas" out there.
So people like him are OK, but various others get ousted in secret. Is that how it works?
Debian was never "normative", but that does not mean Debian should have such low standards. █