[Pythonmac-SIG] [OT] If in hurry, skip...

[Richard Gordon]

As many of you foreign, er, international, list members may have 
observed, especially over the past 8 mos. or so, we Americans are not 
exactly famous for caring about the sensitivities of anyone else too 
much. This list is a little unique because the people on it are 
almost invariably civil and reasonable regardless, but you know what 
I mean.

Anyway, in the interest of furthering my own curiosity and the 
curiosity of other Americans that they didn't realize they had, and 
perhaps even suggesting to the rest of you that we are not all 
overbearing idiots even if our government is led by them, I would 
appreciate being enlightened about the following:

1) I came across Guido's home page and his efforts to explain how his 
first name is actually pronounced in Dutch and the spelling rules for 
his last name.  So this led me to wonder about the correct 
pronunciation of Just's and Jack's names. I gather that Dutch is 
essentially Low German and would assume that Just is phonetically 
Yust? Is Jack Yack or just an Anglicized Jack?
2) In the Mac and linux communities, I can scarcely think of anything 
of recent vintage that is interesting that wasn't developed in 
Europe. I don't object to Europeans developing nice things, I'm just 
wondering what happened to our ability to do so too?
3) I've noticed that for the most part, posts from non-English 
speaking Europeans here have nearly flawless English and have 
marveled at the posters' ability to express complex thoughts in a 
second language. What I haven't noticed either here or on the main 
python newsgroup/list is a whole lot of chatter from 
Indians/Pakistanis who are generally proficient in English and I'm 
wondering whether Python just hasn't hit there or they don't post or 
what?
4) Same thought with the Chinese, altho I don't assume that all of 
them read/write English. It's hard to imagine that they don't use 
Python at all given Red Flag Linux, and I kind of wonder what's going 
on with them.

So, I guess that's enough Hands Across The Sea for now. But I'd at 
least llke to know how Just prefers to pronounce his name. :-]
Richard

-----------------------------------------------
"I can do chin-ups, I'm the best rock-thrower in the county and I'm 
saving up for a gold tooth. I'm the man for you, Charlene. You know 
it. Now can I come over and kiss you on the jaw?"

The Angst of Ernest T. Bass
Mayberry, North Carolina
circa 1964