Systers code sprint at GHC 2009

One session I'm really excited about is the Systers code sprint. This was a late addition to the program, so I want to make sure you don't miss it!

Systers Code Sprint at GHC09
Time: 16:00-20:00 - AST, Thursday, October 01, 2009
Where: GHC09 - Room: Tucson A
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From coders to writers to artists to testers... we'll be looking for people with all sorts of skills. (And if you can't make it to GHC, you can stop by the IRC channel to help too!) Check out the current task list and see what might suit your expertise, or just stop by and see how you can help on the day, because new ideas are bound to come up. You don't have to stay the whole time, either, just stop by for as long as you can.

And if you'll indulge me for bit, let me tell you why I'm so excited about the Systers code sprint at GHC09.

The fact that it's a code sprint to help roll out some new stuff for Systers is plenty of reason to be excited, but this is extra special to me because one of the things we'll be working on is Mailman, which is a mailing list manager and open source project near and dear to my heart.

First, it's exciting to me because mailing lists have been a large part of the way I "meet" other women involved in computing, like the wonderful women involved with LinuxChix, Systers and many others. Mailing lists provide us a way to connect with others around the world. Many women in computing feel quite isolated, and it's wonderful to be part of a global community.

Of course, the joy of mailing lists is hardly limited to women in computing. They're used by universities, friends, political parties, and special interest groups of all stripes. They're also commonly used to help coordinate efforts for open source projects. Which brings me to the second reason I love Mailman: I'm a developer! I'm actually one of the core developers, plus I wrote a lot of documentation for it. So I'm always thrilled to see new ways in which people want to use it, and of course I love seeing people hack on the projects that I contribute to. And I admit, since I'm currently trying to work on helping improve the usability for the next version, I'm always out there asking people how they like it and what we can fix in the future.

So I'll be at the Systers code sprint helping out as a Mailman developer, but you don't have to be interested in Mailman to help out! There's lots of other good reasons to be interested. Hope to see you there!