[Python-Dev] PyPI comments and ratings, *really*?

Nick Coghlan ncoghlan at gmail.com
Thu Nov 12 21:59:08 CET 2009


Barry Warsaw wrote:
> I personally think a ratings system can be useful, but you should be
> able to opt-out of it if you want.  Or just write such awesome software
> that the bogus bad reviews will be buried by an avalanche of kudos.

One of the problems I have with online rating/comment systems for
software are I see them as inherently biased. Happy users are more
likely to be busy coding, unhappy users are more likely to be frustrated
and looking for somewhere to vent.

If the package author can't even *respond* to mistaken or misguided
comments then the review system is fundamentally broken. Better not to
have one at all - let people vent on their own blogs and other sites,
and let potential users let Google do its thing (and if Google turns up
nothing, then that in itself is a data point).

Regards,
Nick.

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia
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