[Python-Dev] [Fwd: Re: Splitting c.l.py...]

[Thomas Wouters]

On Sun, Jul 09, 2000 at 12:30:49PM +1000, Neil Hodgson wrote:

> > When posting to c.l.py these days I usually feel a lot of pressure
> > about how my writings will be perceived by newbies, critics, members
> > of other cultures, the press, and so on.

>    I'd like to separate out the problem here. Is it that there is a need to
> keep politically damaging opinions private so the Python community is not
> seen to be disparaging some other project like Tk or Expat? Is it that it is
> more acceptable for you to make mistakes in front of a restricted audience?

Without pretending I can channel Guido as good as the others here ;) I think
I know what Guido means: he's afraid of a Prophet Effect, like in the Life
of Brian ;) The public image of Guido is a godly one, of stability and
steady progress, no nasty suprises. If he were to suggest something radical
on c.l.py, like the removal of lambda, classes, or case sensitivity, he'd
have a small uprising in his mailbox: half the people on c.l.py would run
away from Python screaming (or after screaming loudly in c.l.py,) and the
other half would instantly start defending Guido's opinion, having convinced
themselves it's a good idea.

If he did it here, two things are different: Less people see his insane
outburst, and before most people see it, a few developers will have replied,
with well-argumented critique, with sooths both types of 'followers' who do
happen to read it. (I mean no disrespect towards c.l.py readers, of course,
and the stereotype doesn't hold in individual cases. Some of my best friends
are c.l.py-readers! But I'm trying to make a point here ;)

The other thing is that the audience that does read it right away, the
developers, are much more critical towards Guido's opinion, and used to
arguing about it in a friendly manner, with Guido and amongst eachother. So
Guido has to be less careful about what he says, because he knows python-dev
won't take him too seriously anyway ;)

At-least-that's-what-I'd-think-if-I'd-written-the-perfect-programming-
-language-and-had-to-develop-it-further-ly y'rs,
-- 
Thomas Wouters <thomas@xs4all.net>

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