Diversity in the languages / translations

[dachary]

Sent a mail today to a developer from Iran:

Subject: GitHub TOS and Iran

Hi,

Would you agree to discuss about how GitHub policy is problematic[0] for developers in Iran[1]? Earlier this year I bootstrapped a “forge federation” project that is about allowing developers from everywhere to work together without being subject to such restrictions[2].

Cheers

[0] https://twitter.com/sebslomski/status/1344219609923276801
[1] https://github.blog/2021-01-05-advancing-developer-freedom-github-is-fully-available-in-iran/
[2] https://fedeproxy.eu

Update: they kindly replied that they have no time to discuss this right now.

[dachary]

Asked a colleague who used to live in Crimea, over five years ago. He replied that he no longer knows any developers still living there:

pretty much all my friends have moved. But yeah, people are using various proxies. And not just for github, of course.

[dachary]

Sent an interview request to Najmeh Mousavi who works for DAPSI and is also a developer.

[dachary]

I will create a specific topic related to diversity and translation so it is not forgotten.

@misc

In my experience, one of the least controversial way to get a diverse user/contributor base would be IMHO translation.

The project summary speak of Iranian developers, but I do not see any iranian living in Iran listed as such on Preparing the User Research . So maybe there is something to do there first, and long term, having a plan to get the software/website/documentation translated in Farsi (and others languages, obviously) would be a way to keep contact with people living in Iran and see if the project is solving their problems.