[Python-Dev] Developer activity (Was: New winreg module really an improvement?)

[Thomas Wouters]

On Fri, Jul 28, 2000 at 03:04:53PM +1000, Mark Hammond wrote:

[ Something about something changing very fast, not giving Mark the chance to
react to it ]

> I fear this may be a general symptom of the new flurry of activity; no-one
> with a real job can keep up with this list, meaning valuable feedback on
> many proposals is getting lost.  For example, DigiCool have some obviously
> smart people, but they are clearly too busy to offer feedback on anything
> lately.  That is a real shame, and a good resource we are missing out on.

Well, the same goes for Guido. Much though I liked the discussion about
slices (and about augmented assignment) yesterday, it took me completely by
suprise. And I'm not sure what the end result is, either. I don't even know
whether it's finished or not, and it's not that easy to find out: it could
be restin', pinin' for the fjords, or it could be nailed to its perch, it
could be an ex-thread. And if it has ceased to be, well, it didn't amount to
much, I think. Some opinions, and a simple (but effective, as far as I can
tell) patch from Michael on one of the sub-issues.

And I believe that's where PEPs are supposed to come in. They summarise the
discussions, so that cool and smart people can look through it, see the
proposal, see the pros and cons, and add their own. I'm not sure if it'll
*work* like that, given that PEPs take some effort to create, and the format
is still not too clear (at least, not to me.) And then there is the stuff
that keeps popping up and isn't really PEPable: segfaults, tests failing,
problem areas not covered by tests, unexpected behaviour noone has come
around to fix or can figure out how to fix, etc.

Maybe we need a TODO list, to store these issues ? Noone else is keeping
track, I think, unless it's done in the Jitterbug buglist -- and I can't
really work with jitterbug, myself. Items on the TODO list that stay on too
long and start repetetive discussions are clearly candidates for PEPs, but
others are just longstanding bugs that need to be properly investigated and
fixed (probably elaborately) and noone disagrees with that. And if the 'fix'
is non-obvious and involved, and generates too much discussion, it can
always be PEPulated ;-)

And if the TODO list needs a maintainer, someone that keeps track of all
'issues' that need closer examination, I'd be happy to volunteer. My idea
would be to limit it to python-dev, unless someone forwards c.l.py traffic
or other traffic that points out TODO-listable issues.

(Or maybe SF has a good tool for this ? Not being a project admin, I've
never seen the 'project manager', so I'm not sure if it has anything like a
'wishlist' ?)

PS: Mark, I *do* have a real job, honest ;) I just get to be near my mail
for about 14 hours a day. (I waste 4 hours to work/home travel, 6 hours to
sleep/eating.) You should try working for an ISP, too! <wink>

-- 
Thomas Wouters <thomas@xs4all.net>

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