Python Origins

[Nathaniel Gray]

Aahz Maruch wrote:
> 
> In article <3A2EE2AF.AD8A51E2 at caltech.edu>,
> Nathan Gray  <nospam at caltech.edu> wrote:
> >
> >What a rude response to a polite and legitimate question.
> 
> Well, you're one-third right on your adjectives.  Rude, yes; polite and
> legitimate, no.  Perhaps you haven't been on Usenet long enough (or in
> the wrong places) to see the hordes of students who expect other people
> to do their work for them.  Laziness of the highest order, is what it
> is, and many long-term Usenetters see it as rudeness.

I'll try not to interpret your presumption that I'm a babe in the woods
as 
rudeness. <wink>  I know the difference between a legitimate post and a
troll.
Let's have another look at the post, shall we?

"I am doing some research and I would be grateful if anybody could give
me 
some history on the origins of Python."

Is it well thought out?  No.  Is it highly specific?  No.  Lazy?  Yeah, 
sure.  But rude?  With all due respect, I think that's a bit of a
stretch.  I
also find it a bit more of a stretch, from this single sentence, to jump
to the
conclusion that the poster is asking us to do his homework for him.  The
only
word that even hints of schoolwork is "research," and that's one that
most of
us use all the time in all sorts of contexts.

Maybe I should clarify: the reason I found it a legitimate question is
that the 
poster was asking about the _history_ of the language, not the syntax or
the 
features or whatnot.  I can imagine a newbie not knowing that this info
would 
be found on the website.

The reason I found it to be a polite question is that it was, well, not
rude.

> I'm sure you find it quite shocking to discover that rudeness is the
> frequent response to rudeness on Usenet.

Yes, this is why I was so shockingly polite in my reply to Mr. May.
<wink>

I find it shocking that somebody who asks for information about the
history
of the language is flamed, but the guy who posts "Python: what all the
hype
is about?" asking why he should choose Python over Java is given a curt
but
polite and informative response.

I'm sure I find that c.l.p is better than the rest of Usenet and I'd
like
to see it stay that way.

-n8
n8gray <at> caltech <dot> edu
-- 
                          Nathaniel Gray
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                   California Institute of Technology                    
                     Computation and Neural Systems                      
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