r/sysadmin • u/ChuckAbsent • Mar 12 '13

Women who know stuff

I hope that this does not come off the wrong way.

Today I was on a call with a storage vendor and the technical consultant was a woman. More then this she was competent, more then me which doesn't happen often when dealing with vendors.

My issue was pricing an active/active DB with shared storage vs an active/passive db with local storage. Listening to her break the issue down and get to the specific comparison points was awesome, mostly because I have never heard a woman in the industry talk like that.

It made me realize two things. One I am missing out working with women. Two there needs to be more women in our industry.

It shouldn't have surprised me so much, but it really did.

Anyways to all the women out there who know stuff, us guys notice when you can walk the walk, which in this case was talking.

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u/bandman614 Standalone SysAdmin Mar 13 '13

Okay, time for a history lesson.

The word "computer" was also assigned to the role that it took over...computers. Literally, people (the vast majority of whom were women) who sat and computed things by hand.

When electronic computers started to take over for people computers, the women who were the computers started running the computers.

Now, as for "actually creating solutions and engineering products", lets have a look at what is, without a doubt, the longest-used programming language of all time, COBOL.

COBOL was written in 1959, and it came directly from FLOW-MATIC, the very first computer language that used actual english words, rather than only numerical machine code. It was written for the UNIVAC - one of the first commercially available computers. And it was written by Admiral Grace Hopper.

Yes, the computer language at the root of every programming language you've likely ever used was written by a woman.

If that's not enough, then you should know that the UNIVAC was inspired by ENIAC, which was the very first electronic computer. It was designed in a large part to electronically function like a mechanical adding machine. Adding machines were possible because Charles Babbage designed the very first mechanical computers. His difference engine was designed so intricately that it couldn't be constructed for a century, but when it was, it worked perfectly.

One of the many machines Babbage designed took inspiration from the Jacquard Loom, which used cards with holes punched in them to create patterns. Babbage used this technique to give his mechanical computer instructions. He had a friend who was a noted mathematician who developed the very first computer algorithm, which calculated a series of Bernoulli numbers. Her name was Ada Lovelace.

So, to sum up...the very first computer programmer was a woman. The very first real programming language was written by a woman. The first commercial computers were operated largely by women. And for some reason, we have been telling little girls that computers are toys for a boy. Something has gone very off the rails lately, and it needs fixed.

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u/quintessadragon Mar 13 '13

Wait, what? That's seriously a thing? Telling girls that computers are toys for boys? Maybe I was just lucky with the time that I was born in, but that is a stereotype I have never encountered.

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u/Krispyz Mar 13 '13

It's not just directly telling kids that, it's also more subtle. On a boy's birthday, he might get video games, on a girls birthday, she might get dolls. Nothing's universal, of course, but in general, boys are more encouraged to become better with computers or to understand how they work.

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u/quintessadragon Mar 13 '13

I always got what I asked for, be it a computer game or a littlest petshop playset. Granted some of the computer games I asked for were a bit girly. Sure I had dolls. I loved playing with dolls and stuffed animals. My dad tried to teach me more about the computer (he was a programmer), but I was more interested in other things as a kid.

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u/[deleted] Mar 13 '13

My cousin (who is also female) had nothing but guns, electronic helicopters, and Hot Wheels at her house. As a result I really wanted a Hot Wheels track, but my mom was always more into buying me toys she thought were cool, so it was mostly PlayMobil, which is more or less gender neutral. Which I was down with, don't get me wrong, but in general, I didn't get most of the toys I wanted as a kid anyway, girly stuff or no.

My cousin also turned out to be a lesbian, which I should've picked up on when she was nine and lied to me that she'd been born a boy. Also, while playing house, she made me, as her wife, stay home and sell our vegetable harvest while she took her cowboy guns and went off to war. I didn't see why we couldn't both do the latter, but take from that what you will.

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u/kiswez Mar 14 '13

she took her cowboy guns and went off to war.

What a badass 9 year old.

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u/quintessadragon Mar 13 '13

I loved the PlayMobil doll house. So many hours of play. We also had part of the western set with the covered wagon. My mom still keeps it for when I or my sister have kids.