Devine Lu Linvega

Some months ago, attendees of the Handmade Seattle conference expressed their grievances with the conference in regards to its pivoting to include talks with mentions of social justice awareness and a slightly more diverse panel of speakers, at the cost of the usual guy-packs-bytes-in-the-right-sequence talks. Which I have nothing against as someone who tend to give talks of that exact flavor.

In any case, the conference organizer apologized for the poor selection of speakers which did not correspond to the expectations of ticket holders, promising to resolve the issue in the following year, and in passing, that free and open source software developers would no longer be welcomed as speakers.

I happened to be present in the chatroom when the apology letter went out and merely questioned whether the choice was really about the lack of low-level talks, and not something else. It did not take long for bigots of all sorts to come out and lament the good old days of the conference and soon the chatroom was ablaze with some pretty vile things against trans people, this went on for hours without intervention, the usual.

What I did not expect, was that after the conference organizer ghosted me for months, they finally broke radio silence to slam me for speaking out and partially blamed me for the unraveling of the conference organization, and decided against covering the agreed upon travel stipend. I have since requested for the talk videos to be removed.

"So why is software so terrible?
We made it terrible."
— The Handmade Manifesto

https://wiki.xxiivv.com/site/now.html

now

By Devine Lu Linvega

XXIIVV
Jan 25, 2025 at 6:37pmWeb
Show threadratfactorJan 25, 2025
@neauoire Yuck, this really sucks. Thanks for writing about it.
Show threadgregoriJan 25, 2025

@neauoire Sad and so disappointing. Not what the community (and the world) needs at this moment.

At least the biases and the failure of leadership are now laid bare, and decisions can be made in light of them. Let's redouble our own efforts to make sure that:
- Open software and open technology is valued highly as a societal good
- Paths less traveled, be they esoteric or otherwise, can be beautiful and worthy of exploration and discussion, regardless of whether they lead to utility in the eyes of capital
- It's safe and encouraged to acknowledge that our acts (technical work absolutely included) have political implications
- Trans/nonbinary people are welcomed, celebrated, worthy, and beautiful

Thanks, Devine for shining a light on this and providing leadership around this. You are valued and we appreciate what you've done to rally all of us. Onward.

Show threadDevine Lu LinvegaJan 25, 2025
@Gregori I'm quite hopeful that new spaces will emerge from the exodus from Handmade and excellent people will rise to the occasion ✊ Say hi to everyone for me today btw ^^
Show threadxoJan 25, 2025
@neauoire Thank you, Devine.
Show threadBwelkingtonJan 25, 2025
@neauoire So sad to see something that made me want to learn and create get turned into what sounds like quite the echo-chamber for such view
Show threadnonmateriaJan 25, 2025
@neauoire this sucks deeply
Show threadMariekeJan 25, 2025

@neauoire

well that's a fucking disappointment :(

Show threadH3RALDJan 25, 2025
@neauoire Unbelievable. So sad that it happened, everyone should just boycott the damn thing. Pity.
Show thread256kJan 25, 2025

@neauoire wow.. that really broke my heart reading this.

Sadly it seems that more and more these sorts of things are happening and bigots are sadly feeling confident enough to show their true colors.

the one good side of all that is that we will now see for real who are these people moving forward but the whole world has suffered a set back for equal rights and egalitarianism.

as is the case in everything now, money is the root of all evil. it attracts the worst people and gives them the most power that they use to oppress others.

Your "Weathering software winter" has had such a powerful impact on me, exposing me to so many new concepts and ideas and ideologies that i relate to but had no idea existed previously. only being aware of handmade the last couple of years, it felt so refreshing seeing a platform where people who do not subscribe to the typical "tech bro" identity could be a part of and share their own views and thoughts.

Let's hope that this brief period of inclusiveness in the public view will inspire others to follow suit and continue delivering such platforms.

<3

Show threadAndrew 🏳️‍🌈 🖥 🧦Jan 25, 2025
@neauoire This is so sad and frustrating. 😞
Show threadhwpsJan 25, 2025
@neauoire Sad, but not surprising. There's been quite a reactionary vibe around much of the Handmade stuff.
Show threadghostzeroJan 25, 2025
@neauoire it’s heartbreaking to see them take something that makes the conference a richer and more diverse experience, and then to crush that just to please some disgruntled but loud voices. FWIW I loved your talk ❤️
Show threadAndres MorenoJan 26, 2025

@neauoire

This is a real bummer--not a surprise, though. The USA is going to hell.

Show threadHamishJan 26, 2025
@neauoire downloading your talk now cause I thought it was excellent! Hope to see more of whatever Handmade isn't (now?).
Show threadDevine Lu LinvegaJan 26, 2025
@kor me too! I'm hopeful, I'm already seeing people organize into new events 🌻
Show threadNoelleJan 26, 2025
@neauoire what the fuuuck
Show threadMugJan 26, 2025
@neauoire FUCK!!! I just can't stand why the low-level community is so full of shitty people. I love the intent of the handmade movement, but the people that make part of it are so disappointing... I feel like I don't fit in any "tech" community, and that is so sad because I would love to have a safe place where we can talk about software 😞
Show threadDevine Lu LinvegaJan 26, 2025
@mugsaurus I feel the same sometimes, but there's always spaces people make that can be still be like that. Often when people come into software and bring with them other interests, this makes for healthier spaces to talk about that stuff, from my experience at least. I hope you do find a place, if not, and if you have the spoons, start one : )
Show threadMugJan 27, 2025
@neauoire Creating a community seems to be a really cool idea, also Merveilles is a great starting point!
Show threadCassandrichJan 26, 2025
@neauoire So what exactly is Handmade? Some cottagecore with emerging fashy ties?
Show threadDevine Lu LinvegaJan 26, 2025
@dalias there's definitely some reactionary larping energy going on in there, but tbf I haven't really spent that much time interacting with the community, I just happened to be there this one time.
Show threadPatricio Gonzalez VivoJan 26, 2025
@neauoire @bd what a terrible experience. I love OSS, and relate to that wish of the community being as inclusive and emotional mature as technical. I’m sorry you got trapped on that cross fire.
Show threadMartin FouilleulJan 26, 2025
@neauoire wait, what?! that really really sucks...