With increasing interest and influence in the open source movement, women in Australia and New Zealand are pushing their way into a normally male-dominated arena.

We can talk to women who come to user group meetings and invite them to speak. By being friendly and asking women directly to speak up, we open the door for participation. If we insist on equal participation, the structure of our organizations will change. The first time I spoke up in a user group was terrifying, but I did so because a peer politely, but repeatedly, asked me to speak.

Women in Linux (or technology in general) has always been a rare breed. I have been very unsuccessful trying to make my female friends or family members getting interested in linux. So in my quest in getting more women interested in linux I have made this list of women who have actively contributed in linux community.

Archana Raghupathy of Chennai started LinuxChix-India in 2005. It is the Indian chapter of the global women techies' network Linuxchix.org, and "tries to empower Indian women to use, develop and contribute to the world of free and open source software (FOSS)."

The second Free and Open Source Software Conference is being held this year on August 25th-26th, in St. Augustin, Germany. Some 66 speakers will address issues ranging from Drupal and other web technologies to KDE 4, Open Source and Marketing, as well as Women in IT.

On various women's mailing lists, a subscriber has raised the idea of a distribution developed "for and by women." So far, the idea has met with a cool reception. It might even be a troll. However, if such a distro ever gets underway, it would be very much in the spirit of the community, and might give more women the background and confidence to reduce the gender gap in free software.

Women are woefully underrepresented in IT. With few exceptions, women represent less than 30 percent of the IT workforce in most countries, while comprising approximately half the workforce.

The idea is floating around again: Let's make a special Linux distribution for women! We're smarter than that, aren't we? I say, let's spare ourselves and the world yet another pointless and less-than-useful version of Linux.

The premier annual Linux and Open Source conference in Australia, linux.conf.au, is once again hosting a LinuxChix mini-conf. We are now calling for presentations by women on both Free Software technical topics and other topics of general interest to women involved in Free Software or working in IT.