[Python-Dev] backporting stdlib 2.7.x from pypy to cpython

[Stephen J. Turnbull]

Brett Cannon writes:

 > But we already have the various SIGs carry out discussions outside of
 > python-dev and just bring forward their results to python-dev when they are
 > ready. Why would this list be any different?

(1) Because AIUI the main problem this list is supposed to solve is
    contacting interested parties and getting them to come to
    python-dev where the actual discussion will take place.  Almost
    certainly some of the actual discussion will take place on
    python-dev, no?  It *is* on-topic for python-dev, right?  (Guido
    seems to think so, anyway....)  So it's not going to focus
    discussion the way a SIG list does.

(2) Because it delegates issue triage to people who don't actually
    know which of the various VMs will care about a particular change,
    so it's unlikely to be terribly accurate.

(3) The SIGs attract long-term interest from a body of "usual
    suspects".  It's worth it to them to invest in the SIG list.
    While the VM folks will have a long term interest, by the current
    definition of the new list they won't be starting threads very
    often!  The people who should be starting threads are quite likely
    to have interest in only one thread, so their incentive to move it
    to the new list will be low; their natural tendency will be to
    post to python-dev and "let George move the thread if needed".

None of that means the new list is a bad idea -- it might be accurate
*enough* to be a big improvement, etc -- just that it clearly is
different from the various SIGs in some important ways.