flaming vs accuracy [was Re: Performance of int/long in Python 3]

[Grant Edwards]

On 2013-03-29, Ethan Furman <ethan at stoneleaf.us> wrote:
> On 03/29/2013 07:52 AM, Grant Edwards wrote:
>> On 2013-03-28, Ethan Furman <ethan at stoneleaf.us> wrote:
>>
>>> I cannot speak for the borg mind, but for myself a troll is anyone
>>> who continually posts rants (such as RR & XL) or who continuously
>>> hijacks threads to talk about their pet peeve (such as jmf).
>>
>> Assuming jmf actually does care deeply and genuinely about Unicode
>> implementations, and his postings reflect his actual
>> position/opinion, then he's not a troll.  Traditionally, a troll is
>> someone who posts statements purely to provoke a response -- they
>> don't really care about the topic and often don't believe what
>> they're posting.
>
> Even if he does care deeply and genuinely he still hijacks threads,
> still refuses the challenges to try X or Y and report back, and
> (ISTM) still refuses to learn.
>
> If that's not trollish behavior, what is it?

He might indeed be trolling.  But what defines a troll is
motive/intent, not behavior.  Those behaviors are all common in
non-troll net.kooks.  Maybe I'm being a bit too "old-school Usenet",
but being rude, ignorant (even stubbornly so), wrong, or irrational
doesn't make you a troll.  What makes you a troll is intent.  If you
don't actually care about the topic but are posting because you enjoy
poking people with a stick to watch them jump and howl, then you're a
troll.

> FWIW I don't think he does care deeply and genuinely (at least not
> genuinely) or he would do more than whine about micro benchmarks and
> make sweeping statements like "nobody here understands unicode"
> (paraphrased).

Perhaps he doesn't care about Unicode or Python performance.  If so
he's putting on a pretty good act -- if he's a troll, he's a good one
and he's running a long game.  Personally, I don't think he's a troll.
I think he's obsessed with what he percieves as an issue with Python's
string implementation.  IOW, if he's a troll, he's got me fooled.

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! It's a hole all the
                                  at               way to downtown Burbank!
                              gmail.com