Community (A Modest Proposal)

[Stephen Hansen]

I call bullshit.

The Python community is vibrant, accessible, and willing to endure far
more then anyone has any right to expect when people come to it for help.

The community seems willing to explain fundamental concepts to newbies
over, and over, and over again; to go out of their way, time and again,
to spend countless man-hours showing newbies how to think in Python, how
to be successful in Python, how to excel in Python.

It does expect something from those coming to it for aide; it expects
the seeker to disclose the problem in a complete, clear manner, with
real code and errors, with clear questions; and then it goes out of its
way to explain what all is going on, and how to approach the problem in
a Pythonic way.

And when the newbies fail to show even the vaguest level of
due-diligence (let alone, ability to simply Google a problem), the
community doesn't call them idiots, doesn't tell them to RTFM and GFYS,
but explains again, how best to ask a question, what to include so that
we can help you best, and then try to find a solution, even when the
community is dubious of the intent of the asker.

Why do people respond poorly to you?

Because you don't just argue a point of view.

You don't argue a position; you don't support it with facts, logic,
reason. You start immediately into this emotional rhetoric,
pseudo-inspirational nonsense which just comes off as inane. It's like a
bad cross between a politician and an self-help speaker, and the crux of
your arguments are focused on that emotional charge-- how TCL is impure,
gross, and its inclusion makes us "less", makes us the mockery of the
language world, how everyone loathes and detests it.

None of that is true, on any factual level.

Time and time again, you presume to speak for "us", for "we", and that's
detestable.

Meaning to or not, you come across as a troll, as if these emotional
responses are your end and not your means.

Make an argument. Support it with facts, leave out the rhetoric, make
your case. This is a forum of engineers-- even if most of us aren't
professional engineers, and many are just starting along the line of
becoming engineers. But this is not a religious organization. This is
not a political party. By and large, we don't mind if someone chooses
another solution. (Yes, I'm speaking for "we" now, I know)

Practicality beats purity.

This is a fundamental concept, not only in Python, but in the community.
The community is about solving problems. Not an agenda. There is no
desire to win. There is no desire to be best. There is a desire for
individuals to be empowered to succeed.

-- 

   Stephen Hansen
   ... Also: Ixokai
   ... Mail: me+list/python (AT) ixokai (DOT) io
   ... Blog: http://meh.ixokai.io/

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