Interview: Rikki Kite - Linux Pro Magazine
Continuing our discussions with this year’s Women in Open Source speakers, we sat down with Rikki Kite, Associate Publisher and Managing Editor at Linux Pro Magazine. We had a chance to talk about the world of publishing in the open source world as well as the often false assumptions that are often made about people.
- Gareth
Gareth: Hi Rikki, can you tell us a bit about your background and what part of the world you currently call home?
Rikki: I dropped out of college at KU and moved to Austin, Texas in January 1991. After taking some time off to enjoy the music scene in Austin, I went back to school and completed my B.A. in English at UT in 1996. I moved back to Kansas the last week of 1996, and have been living in Lawrence and working in publishing since then. Eventually I went back to KU and completed my Master’s in Journalism in 2008.
Gareth: You currently work at Linux Pro Magazine, What is your current role in the organization? How did you get started there?
Rikki: Right now I wear two hats –- I’m the Associate Publisher and Managing Editor. Eventually, I’ll hand off my editorial duties. I started at Linux Pro in November 2006. Joe Casad, our editor in chief, had been working out of his home office for a couple of years or so and we officially opened our North American office in early 2007. Joe, Brian Osborn (our Publisher and CEO), and Amy Phalen (our North American sales rep), and I all knew each other from working on Sys Admin Magazine.
Gareth: I’ve heard that back in the day systems running NeXTStep were heavily used in publishing. I’m curious if the industry is moving towards free & open source software at all. Does Linux Pro Magazine utilize free & open source software?
Rikki: I can’t speak for the publishing industry as a whole, but Linux New Media uses a lot of free and open source software. I suspect we aren’t the norm, however.
Gareth: How did you first get involved with technology? What about the Open Source community?
Rikki: I started working at Miller Freeman/CMP Media in early 1997 and then got hired as an editor for Sys Admin Magazine in 1999. Sys Admin covered Linux from its beginning. We even had a brief side project publishing the Journal of Linux Technology. In my Sys Admin days, I worked mostly behind the scenes, so only authors had much contact with me. Working at Linux Pro allows me to do a lot more traveling to events, which has helped me feel more involved with the community.
Gareth: Do you feel as though you are treated differently in the technology world because you’re a woman? What about the Open Source Community? If so, how? And how do you combat these?
Rikki: In the past, I’d get pretty discouraged at industry events because I felt completely ignored. Attendees and exhibitors didn’t recognize that I actually worked on Sys Admin. They assumed I was hired just to work the booth and didn’t know anything about the content of the magazine. Sometimes they’d get completely flustered when they asked for an editor and I told them they could talk to me.
In the past year, I can only think of one person who came off as completely sexist at an event – he walked up to the booth and asked me whether a Linux Pro editor was at LinuxWorld, and when I told him that I was an editor he responded, “No you’re not. You’re a booth babe,” and he laughed and walked off. I guess I just don’t feel like I have anything to prove, so I just watched him walk away. I figure he’s either an idiot or he’s just trying to be offensive. These days, I really think people like him area tiny minority, and they are everywhere — not just in open source.
I think the open source community has matured a lot over these past few years. It’s becoming a much more inviting atmosphere for everyone, not just women.
Gareth: Definitely! What would you say the best and worst parts of the open source community are?
Rikki: I think the best thing about the open source community is also the worst thing — anyone can contribute, and new ideas and projects are welcome, but as a consequence there’s no clear “business plan” and there can be a lack of organization. Open source is full of creative, bright people who enjoy what they are doing, but that also means that some of the important housekeeping-type tasks can get less attention.
Gareth: What methods do you use to encourage other women to get involved in technology? What about getting involved in the open source community? In your opinion, what else can be done?
Rikki: My blog on the Linux Pro site is my effort to draw attention to the world of women in open source. I hope that it helps show the spectrum of opportunities in our field and encourages women to move into open source. It’s a great time to be a woman in technology because it’s never felt more inviting. It’s exciting to see how open source is spilling over into other industries, like education and health care. I even saw a site dedicated to open source software in paleontology – how cool is that?
As long as we continue to discourage sexism – or any ‘isms’ for that matter – and make a special effort to be encouraging to everyone, we’re on the right track to increasing participation in open source. It goes against everything that is “open source” not to be open to participation by women and anyone else who has something to contribute. Also, it’s important to remember that there are a lot of unsung heroes in open source — people working behind the scenes writing documentation, planning events, and helping to promote open source software or projects.
I also think that getting open source into schools will help increase participation in the future. It’s a great way for schools to save money, and also a wonderful way to get kids involved in open source technology.
Gareth: How has the feedback to your blog been? The good and any bad.
Rikki: I can’t say that I’ve noticed any negative feedback so far. Everyone seems very supportive and interested in what women are doing in open source. I’m not trying to create controversy, I just want to report what’s happening. I have plenty of my own criticisms about my blog — I wish I had more time to write in-depth articles for it, for example.
Gareth: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! We’ll see you at SCALE 7x.