[Numpy-discussion] NEPaNEP lessons - was: alterNEP
Matthew Brett
matthew.brett at gmail.com
Sat Jul 2 09:28:41 EDT 2011
Hi,
On Sat, Jul 2, 2011 at 1:29 PM, Jason Grout <jason-sage at creativetrax.com> wrote:
> On 7/2/11 6:54 AM, Matthew Brett wrote:
>> Why5: Because there was a belief that implementation was more
>> important than discussion
>
> I hesitate to jump into the discussion here, but it seems to me that
> Mark and others were making the point that beginning implementation
> *informs* the discussion in a very valuable way. In a case like this
> where it seems like the differences are fundamentally based on untested
> assumptions (e.g., "this would be confusing" or "the consistency would
> provide greater benefits than any confusion"), it seems that having an
> implementation to play around with is a very valuable thing. Release
> early and often, etc.
There is of course a time to make a draft implementation, and there's
a time to discuss the API in the abstract.
Here the primary discussion I was trying to start was about why the
discussion failed and led to bad feeling.
> Of course, it should also be pointed out that Mark and others are trying
> to have a conference call, where (as they said it) the communication
> bandwidth is greater, which hopefully would lead to more effective and
> clear communication. I see that as a very responsible thing to do,
> given the intensity of some of the feelings in this discussion.
While phone-calls are often good, I think it would be a mistake to
diagnose this problem as primarily one of hurt feelings. This is what
I meant about 'Blame the process not the people'.
I also feel strongly that it is important to have substantial
discussions on-list in order to strengthen community involvement and
ownership [1].
I am hoping that, in discussing the process, it will become clear how
we can improve the way we work in order to make discussion richer,
calmer, and more effective.
Best,
Matthew
[1] http://producingoss.com/en/setting-tone.html
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