[Numpy-discussion] Removing masked arrays for 1.7? (Was 1.7 blockers)

[Matthew Brett]

Hi,

On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 12:04 PM, Fernando Perez <fperez.net at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 11:40 AM, Matthew Brett <matthew.brett at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I'm glad to hear that discussion is happening, but please do have it
>> on list.   If it's off list it easy for people to feel they are being
>> bypassed, and that the public discussion is not important.
>
> I'm afraid I have to disagree: you seem to be proposing an absolute,
> 'zero-tolerance'-style policy against any off-list discussion.  The
> only thing ZT policies achieve is to remove common sense and human
> judgement from a process, invariably causing more harm than they do
> good, no matter how well intentioned.

Right - but that would be an absurd overstatement of what I said.
There's no point in addressing something I didn't say and no sensible
person would think.   Indeed, it makes the discussion harder.

It's just exhausting to have to keep stating the obvious.  Of course
discussions happen off-list.  Of course sometimes that has to happen.
Of course that can be a better and quicker way of having discussions.

However, in this case the

> Let's try to trust for one minute that the actual decisions will be
> made here with solid debate and project-wide input, and seek change
> only if we have evidence that this isn't happening (not evidence of a
> meta-problem that isn't a problem here).

meta-problem that is a real problem is that we've shown ourselves that
we are not currently good at having discussions on list.

There are clearly reasons for that, and also clearly, they can be
addressed.   The particular point I am making is neither silly nor
extreme nor vapid.  It is simply that, in order to make discussion
work better on the list, it is in my view better to make an explicit
effort to make the discussions - explicit.

Yours in Bay Area opposition,

Matthew