[Pythonmac-SIG] Python site

[Kevin Ollivier]

On Saturday, July 26, 2003, at 07:13  AM, Chris wrote:

> I think the snake thing is too intrenched. It has nothing
> to do with the original Python which as you know refers to
> Monty Python's Flying Circus.
>
> According to The BCC the program was to be called "Flying
> Circus"  (AKA the Red Baron) but it didn't seen to stick.
> While in production somebody came up with the term " Monty
> Python's Flying Circus" and the rest is history.
>
> As the BBC says:
>
> "But as planning for the series became more confused, the
> BBC management began to refer to the team as a 'flying
> circus' - inspired by the Red Baron's World War One fighter
> squadron.
> With the addition of the random moniker Monty Python, the
> name gained general approval. "
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/10/99/monty_python/ 
> 455585.stm
>
> So we have a scripting language called Python and we are
> stuck with the snake.  I kinda wish it had been called
> "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" or SPAM,SPAM,SPAMMedy,SPAM or
> the "Dead Parrot".

Believe it or not, there is a language named after the Dead Parrot,  
called apt-ly enough, "Parrot". ;-) It started as an April Fool's joke  
by Guido and Larry Wall (creator of Perl) about a hybrid Python/Perl  
syntax, and apparently someone took the idea seriously... (I mean, even  
after they announced that they weren't serious!)

While I would consider myself a pretty avid Monty Python fan, I do have  
to say that I think people get a bit bored with the jokes if they are  
too often or too constant. While I'm not against icons like a smashing  
foot (which I do think more MP fans will recognize than the 16-ton  
weight!), the fact is that many people will simply not know what it  
means - it makes me feel like its an 'in-joke', something some people  
are privileged to get, while others just scratch their head and say  
'huh'?

The snake, however, is pretty much universally recognizable. What I  
actually like about the "Windows" snake is that he looks friendly and  
playful to me, which IMHO perfectly sums up my feelings of the Python  
community.

Having said all this, if we wanted to go with a "Monty" Python icon, I  
would vote for the graaaaiiiillll. =) Aside from being possibly the  
center of MP's most popular work, it at least has connotations that  
non-MP fans can recognize. (MP fans recognize the reference, while  
non-MP fans can think that Python is the "holy grail" of scripting  
languages! ;-) I don't think the Grail browser is really being  
maintained anymore, so I doubt there would be a conflict there. AND, if  
someone were to do up a grail following Apple's HIG, I bet it would  
look truly cool.

Or, to make everyone happy, we could have a grail and the little  
smiling snake head poking out. ;-)

And BTW, so that no one thinks I am against references to MP within  
Python, I am all for references like "SPAM", <wink, wink, nudge, nudge>  
and the occasional (but not expected) appearance of the Spanish  
Inquisition. And actually, I think the flying rabbit would make an  
extremely cool demo of how to move images along the screen (i.e. like  
in wxPython or PyGame), and you could have it biting the necks of the  
knights to show collision detection. =)

ANYWAYS... ;-)

> Let me have a look at it. I have 30 years of graphics
> experience and love to do AQUA in Photoshop!

Speaking of which, can Aqua text still look appropriate at font sizes  
18-24px? I was playing around with an image of the 'MacPython' text  
(with the Mac in Aqua and maybe the Python using the standard 'bubbly'  
design) to go in that big empty space on the right hand bar of the  
site, but I would have to do the Aqua text at very large sizes, and it  
wouldn't look appropriate when I shrank it down. I could use Photoshop  
effects to get a blue, shiny and embossed look, but it still wasn't  
'Aqua'. Of course, I don't have 30 years of graphics experience so I'm  
not sure if the Aqua look is feasible like that - In fact, I don't even  
have 30 years of experience period yet! =)

Kevin