"My meaning should be obvious. All institutions have limited resources that should be properly allocated to achieve the best results. Funds expended on “UNIX is racist” reduces the possible support for imparting useful knowledge to students."
I would normally not respond to a such a diatribe against a scholar, but this critique makes no sense. Your meaning is not "obvious" and shows little understanding of how funding for research works. I highly doubt that this article was done under some form of external funding, unless you mean her salary, in which case she is paid for more than simply her research.
Your idea of what is "useful" is also very subjective. As Matt has already discussed, this article is often used in classrooms, and although it does have its faults, they can be discussed in a civil way. If you have actual critiques of the article, that is one thing, but the attacking of a well-respected scholar without any real substance is not needed.
Here is a perspective from India. In the 1970s, India was hobbled by lack of technology, especially computer technology, due largely to the Indian government's restrictive practices (i.e. drive for self-sufficiency, etc). In the late 1970s and early 1980s The government woke up to the fact that all was not going well, and decided to allow the private sector to manufacture small microcomputers in India. Simultaneously, a Committee to improve Banking services was also set up.
After analysis, the Banking Committee decided that Unix offered the most modularity that was available for FREE (without any restrictions), and which could be tailored to suit India conditions. The signal went out to the private sector to manufacture Unix-based computers. Mass training on the Unix environment took place. The O/S could be fitted into a CD, and these were used to explore various flavors of Unix.
So at least as far as Indian computing is concerned, the modular as well as free (as in free beer) aspect provided Indians with the necessary high level O/S, and taught them specialized computing skills.
Regards,
-Ramesh
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Ramesh Subramanian, Ph.D.
Gabriel Ferrucci Professor of Computer Information Systems
Quinnipiac University
Hamden, CT 06518.
Phone: 203-582-5276
Email:rameshs@quinnipiac.edu
Web: http://www.quinnipiac.edu/about/directory/faculty-detail/?Dept=16&Person=23345
&
Fellow, Yale Law School - Information Society Project
New Haven, CT 06511
Email: ramesh.subramanian@yale.edu
Web: http://www.law.yale.edu/intellectuallife/9841.htm
________________________________________
From: Members [members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org] on behalf of Janet Abbate [abbate@vt.edu]
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2015 4:57 PM
To: Sigcis
Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Is Unix racist?
Anyone seen this piece by Tara Mcpherson? It starts with some interesting questions, but I found the follow-through to be disappointingly ahistorical. Again and again she argues that there must be a connection between the modularity of Unix and the compartmentalization of race within American culture, but then immediately admits that she has no evidence for any direct connection. As far as I can tell, the only reason she singles out Unix is because it coincides conveniently with the US Civil Rights era. I'm curious to know what others think.
"Why Are the Digital Humanities So White? or Thinking the Histories of Race and Computation."
http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/text/29
Janet
Dr. Janet Abbate
Associate Professor, Science & Technology in Society
Co-director, National Capital Region STS program
Virginia Tech
www.sts.vt.edu/ncr
www.linkedin.com/groups/STS-Virginia-Tech-4565055
www.facebook.com/VirginiaTechSTS
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