In October last year, Kate von Roeder, known as
Damiya on GitHub,
left us under tragic circumstances. Kate was responsible for the implementation of Play's
automatic HTTP HEAD support, a non trivial feature for which we are thankful for her efforts. She was fun to work with, very responsive to code reviews, and a great example of a Play contributor.
Kate's passing is a reminder of the challenges that underrepresented groups can face. As a community that is dominated primarily by one demographic, let's never forget the impact we can have in making those who are underrepresented in our community feel welcome. One of the great things about open source is the potential diversity of the communities, people coming together from many countries, cultures, beliefs and backgrounds to work together towards a common goal. My hope is that the Play community will be a place that showcases this diversity.
Kate was a great member of the Play community, she will be missed.
Sincerely,
--
James Roper
Software Engineer