[Foundation-l] Showing the difference between the sexes

[Gerard Meijssen]

Hoi,
<grin> I find it funny that this is so far a male only conversation </grin>

The development of this bit of software was not undertaken for Dutch or
German. It is of particular value to those languages where women are
addressed differently in any sentence. It is a missing part of the work that
has been done so far. The fact that it can be of use for Dutch and German is
a bonus.

When people do not identify themselves as either male or female, there are
default ways of dealing with this. Typically a person is then addressed as
male. As this is a personal choice, it is best left to the person involved.
This means that a person chooses what fits best for him or her.

When something is unusual and addressing people personally in software is
unusual it will get peoples heckles up. There will be opposition. The
situation we face is one where females for all kinds of reasons do not
contribute to our projects. We now have the ability to have a user interface
that will address people properly once they have identified themselves in
this way.

While leaving it to the community is the default best answer, this is where
a distinct minority will be affected by whatever choice made. The word
paternalistic comes to mind when we males are to decide for the women.