Ideas about how software should behave

[Jon Ribbens]

On 2017-11-08, Ben Finney <ben+python at benfinney.id.au> wrote:
> I also think Jon had cause to bristle somewhat at the characterisation.
> I don't think Jon was attacked by Steve's remark, but I do sympathise
> with the instinct to feel a criticism as an attack.

Steve called me arrogant, that's an attack - never mind that he hadn't
the slightest justification for it. If you're going to respond again
that he was calling the idea arrogant, then please just stop and
think for a moment: an idea, in the abstract, cannot be arrogant.
Arrogance is simply not a concept that applies to ideas, it is
a concept that applies to people. If you call an idea arrogant
you are necessarily stating that the person espousing the idea is
guilty of arrogance - that's what the word means.

Chris also called the idea "ridiculous", which is also fairly rude,
not least because, again, he hadn't the slightest justification for
it. The idea is clearly not ridiculous. One might reasonably think
that the idea was a bad idea, or unwise, etc, and someone else might
reasonably think it isn't - but to call it ridiculous is not
legitimate disagrement, it is insulting hyperbole.

You have also, in the past, pretty much straight-up called me a liar.
That is also, obviously, insulting - yet again, not that you had any
justification for it at all.

It is my experience of this group/list that if one disagrees with any
of you, Steve and Chris, you all rally round and gang up on that
person to insult and belittle them. This makes the atmosphere quite
hostile, and it would be quite remarkable if it isn't hurting the
community by driving people away. Please stop doing it.

(Finally, to forestall the inevitable accusation that I am being
unusually fragile, please let me point out that I have been around
on Usenet since the early 1990s. I am used to flamewars etc.
But this is not alt.usenet.kooks, this is comp.lang.python /
python-list, and it's supposed to be a civilised discussion forum.
If people can't have on-topic discussions without being called
ridiculous arrogant liars, then there's something wrong.)