Python does not play well with others

[Paul Rubin]

skip at pobox.com writes:
>     Paul> Why would I expect your employer to solve my problems anyway, even
>     Paul> if they relate to some module that you actually use?
> 
> Your reasoning seems to be that Python should contain the functional union
> of everything at least in Java and PHP if not Perl, Ruby and Tcl as well.

I wouldn't go quite that far.  I think there are specific application
areas, such as web server apps, where the Python advocates here on
clpy pitch Python relentlessly against those other languages.  Given
that context, Python's stdlib should try to match the libraries of
those other languages in those areas.  There are other areas where
Python doesn't get pitched as hard and the other languages have
acknowledged advantages.  So it's ok if Python's stdlib gets less
attention in those areas.

> Free software or not, each person who contributes to the development
> of the Python core has to put food on the table.  As an example, I
> suspect most core Java development is funded directly by Sun who
> pays its employees to develop libraries, JIT compilers and the like.
> While my employer pays me to program in Python I'm not paid to
> develop core Python code.  What little I do is done on my own time.

Again I don't understand what your employer or your activities have to
do with any of this.  If you don't want to spend your time developing
Python then don't.  You didn't write the interpreter or the tkinter
library or the itertools library and yet there they are.  There's
ongoing development that will continue with or without you or me, and
for that matter with or without funding from Sun.

> If you want to turn the Python distribution into a kitchen sink,
> make the argument on python-dev and be prepared to shoulder your
> share of the burden should your arguments sway the group as a whole.

We've had this conversation before and I continue to think your
reasoning above is invalid.  I'm not a Python developer, I'm just a
user, and my volunteer coding priorities are elsewhere, as I've
explained before.  Python's developers and advocates have a declared
goal of reaching as many users as they can, and as a user I don't mind
offering suggestions about how to do that, but my responsibilities
don't go any further.