I do not know much about the ASF, could somebody share a little of who Nóirín was, what she did, etc?
She was also on the Board of the Apache Software Foundation.
Nóirín Plunkett has died
41–50 of 52 posts
Re: Nóirín Plunkett has died
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
It hardly matters now. The details of these cases and the private lives of the people involved are really none of our business, and scrutinizing them will not fix anything for anybody. Let us please mourn the loss of a person beloved by many.
I think it still matters, sadly. The whole sordid affair has taken from a language community a developer who did much good, and who is as of yet unable to return because the question of his guilt, if any, is unresolved. The end of this case, if it ever has one, might possibly see her claims validated, or it might possibly enable the return of a valued talent. I do not assume to know which it might be, but the chance…
Even if you don't mean this comment to be insensitive, it is pretty insensitive to people mourning the permanent loss of a talented and loved person who contributed much to their communities and friends.
Re: Nóirín Plunkett has died
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
A devastating loss indeed. Has cause of death been released? She was so young. EDIT: Surprised by the downvotes. I'm leaving it, regardless. The question does not imply any lack of respect for the deceased. Those who think it does are wrong.
It doesn't but if they haven't been released then seeking them is untimely morbid curiosity.
Wanting to learn more is a natural part of accepting an unexpected loss.
Re: Nóirín Plunkett has died
#44She looks pretty young in her social media photos. Please don't be yet another bright young techie suicide. We've had too many of those recently, and no one seems to understand why or how we can avoid them in the future.
Regarding suicides (separate to this article, where cause is unknown) - there is nothing particular to tech which means suicides. Suicides cut across all demographics, though it is particularly prevalent amongst young adults. People who work in mental health and related areas understand the reasons behind suicides pretty well.
When it comes to avoiding them, the answer involves lots of tax dollars thrown at a demographic with little political power. Suicides will never be eradicated, but they can be reduced with well-targeted mental health programs.
Understanding and solutions are available, it's just that it's a complex problem with no single solution, so the general public isn't really interested in understanding it... and as they don't understand it, they're also not really interested in funding it.
Re: Nóirín Plunkett has died
#45I do not know much about the ASF, could somebody share a little of who Nóirín was, what she did, etc?
I know nothing about her work with ASF, but I knew her briefly when she lived in Portland. She was one of the organizers who create those great tech events this city is known for. I used to attend the weekly brewpup hackathons she organized, and which are still going strong.
I seem to recall that her day job at the time was writing docs for Eucalyptus.
We weren't close, but I can say that she was an interesting, smart, talented, complicated person. Her loss saddens me deeply.
Re: Nóirín Plunkett has died
#46According to their Twitter bio, Nóirín prefers to be referred to in the singular "they". Please respect their identity, HN.
Are you sure that doesn't just refer to a preference for using 'they/them' as opposed to 'him' when it's a generic singular pronoun? People who knew her are using "her": http://drbacchus.com/festina-lente/
So ... I wrote that, and it's worth mentioning that I knew Noirin before the preference for different pronouns was stated. That is, I knew Noirin, as mentioned in my blog post, during the ASF days, before they moved away from ASF activity into other areas of activism. Thus, I used the pronoun which was preferred at the time of our acquaintance. Much like people that knew me as a kid call me "Richard" and people that knew me in college call me "Rich", likewise, people that knew Noirin earlier and later will likely use different pronouns, based on the norms at the time. No disrespect is meant, just fond memories of a too-short friendship.
Re: Nóirín Plunkett has died
#47She looks pretty young in her social media photos. Please don't be yet another bright young techie suicide. We've had too many of those recently, and no one seems to understand why or how we can avoid them in the future.
Regarding suicides (separate to this article, where cause is unknown) - there is nothing particular to tech which means suicides. Suicides cut across all demographics, though it is particularly prevalent amongst young adults. People who work in mental health and related areas understand the reasons behind suicides pretty well. When it comes to avoiding them, the answer involves lots of tax dollars thrown at a demogra…
I believe there are many studies linking tech work to poor mental health, so no, I don't agree that this is just 'law of averages' thing.
Re: Nóirín Plunkett has died
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you sure that doesn't just refer to a preference for using 'they/them' as opposed to 'him' when it's a generic singular pronoun? People who knew her are using "her": http://drbacchus.com/festina-lente/
So ... I wrote that, and it's worth mentioning that I knew Noirin before the preference for different pronouns was stated. That is, I knew Noirin, as mentioned in my blog post, during the ASF days, before they moved away from ASF activity into other areas of activism. Thus, I used the pronoun which was preferred at the time of our acquaintance. Much like people that knew me as a kid call me "Richard" and people that…
As much as anything, I linked to it because it was a nice bit of writing.
Re: Nóirín Plunkett has died
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Regarding suicides (separate to this article, where cause is unknown) - there is nothing particular to tech which means suicides. Suicides cut across all demographics, though it is particularly prevalent amongst young adults. People who work in mental health and related areas understand the reasons behind suicides pretty well. When it comes to avoiding them, the answer involves lots of tax dollars thrown at a demogra…
I believe there are many studies linking tech work to poor mental health, so no, I don't agree that this is just 'law of averages' thing.
And there are many studies linking menial work to poor mental health, legal work to poor mental health, medical work to poor mental health, shift work to poor mental health, so on and so forth, right on down to linking unemployment with poor mental health. It's also a bit disingenuous to say 'no-one knows why' and then turn around and say 'there are many studies into these things'.
We have a reasonable understanding of the various causes of suicide, though not perfect. And if what you're saying is true, that IT is special and backed by many studies, then we have a reasonable understanding there, too. And a reasonable understanding of what can be done about it.
I guess my point is that while it's normal to express sympathy by using the "it's all a big sad mystery" response, it's not actually helpful beyond being a very short term salve. It's not a mystery when you actually look at it, and there are things that can be done - it's just not socially viable.
edit: some of the things we can do around suicide is promoting the idea of counselling and trying to remove the taboo. Encourage people to call helplines if they're not in a good way, and getting to counselling before they reach that stage helps. Reduce the taboo and let people know that while it's not pleasant talking about this stuff to loved ones, it's better than the alternative. Improve mental health clinical services and subsidise the cost of appropriate medication. Raise awareness of the issue itself without getting into hysteria, so people know that it's there and can look for markers in friends and family, but also that something can be done about it. That it's not unique to feel suicidal. Run outreach programs to demographics identified as at-risk, and do that in a manner that will be socially acceptable to those demographics. A lot of tax dollars need to be spent here, because a lot of people don't have loved ones in their private lives to look out for them, and some who do have loved ones don't have loved ones capable of looking out for them.
There's a lot that can be done, and a lot more that can be done if society is willing to throw in the dollars. It's a hard problem, but it's not an unsolvable ball of mystery.
Re: Nóirín Plunkett has died
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Regarding suicides (separate to this article, where cause is unknown) - there is nothing particular to tech which means suicides. Suicides cut across all demographics, though it is particularly prevalent amongst young adults. People who work in mental health and related areas understand the reasons behind suicides pretty well. When it comes to avoiding them, the answer involves lots of tax dollars thrown at a demogra…
I believe there are many studies linking tech work to poor mental health, so no, I don't agree that this is just 'law of averages' thing.
Data I've seen shows builders are at high risk in my area.
Suicide is very common. In the UK it's the leading cause of death for men aged 20 to 49. In the US one person dies by suicide every 13 minutes.
Financial stress is a risk factor for suicide, so there's some increased risk for founders there.