[Numpy-discussion] Meta: help, devel and stackoverflow

[Matthew Brett]

Hi,

On Sat, Jun 30, 2012 at 1:05 PM, Dag Sverre Seljebotn
<d.s.seljebotn at astro.uio.no> wrote:
> On 06/30/2012 09:37 PM, Matthew Brett wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> On Sat, Jun 30, 2012 at 12:29 PM, John Hunter<jdh2358 at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jun 29, 2012 at 2:20 PM, Jim Vickroy<jim.vickroy at noaa.gov>  wrote:
>>>>
>>>> As a lurker and user, I too wish for a distinct numpy-users list.  -- jv
>>>>
>>>
>>> This thread is a perfect example of why another list is needed.  It's
>>> currently 42 semi-philosophical posts about what kind community numpy should
>>> be and what kinds of lists or stacks should serve it.  There needs to be a
>>> place where people can ask simple 'how do I do x in numpy" questions without
>>> having to wade through hundreds of posts about release cycles, community
>>> input, process, and decisions about ABI and API compatibility in point
>>> versus major releases.
>>
>> Oh - dear.   I think the point that most of us agreed on was that
>> having a different from: address wasn't a perfect solution for giving
>> people space for asking newbie type questions.  No-one has to read an
>> email.  If it looks boring or silly or irrelevant to your concerns,
>> well, then ignore it.
>
> I'd think most users sort different mailing lists into folders/tags/...
> automatically, not into their main inbox.
>
> Ignoring an email takes time; if I actually had to read the title of
> each thread of all the mailing lists I'm subscribed to it'd cost me a
> significant amount of time.
>
>>>   Most people just don't care -- they just want to be
>>> reasonably sure that the developers do care and are doing it right.  And if
>>> they want to participate or observe these discussions, they know where to
>>> go.  It's like sausage making -- the more people get an inside look at how
>>> the sausage is made, the more they are afraid to eat it.
>>
>> Not so in general.  The more I hang out on the cython / sympy /
>> ipython mailing lists, the more I feel like using and (if I can)
>> contributing.
>
> John specifically says "most people". You (and I) are not "most people".

Heads up - navel gazing alert.  Read no further if you feel sick
looking at navels.

It's very obvious to some people on this thread that a user mailing
list is necessary.

It's less obvious to others.

I personally don't think it's clear cut and there are arguments both ways.

We each of us base our opinions and arguments on our experience.  We
were all 'users' once, as many of us were students once.  I'm a 'user'
of Cython, and Sympy and IPython.  Like the rest of us, I'm trying to
work out what I, as a user, would want, at the same time as wishing
for the best community for numpy.

Best,

Matthew