[SciPy-user] Re: Notes from meeting with Guido regarding inclusion of array package in Python core

[Joe Harrington]

It never rains, but it pours!  Thanks for talking with Guido and
hammering out these issues and options.

You are of course right that the release schedule issue is enough to
keep us out of Python core for the time being (and matplotlib out of
scipy, according to JDH at SciPy04, for the same reason).  However, I
think we should still strongly work to put it there eventually.  For
now, this means keeping it "acceptable", and communicating with Guido
often to get his feedback and let him know what we are doing.

There are three reasons I see for this.  First, having it
core-acceptable makes it clear to potential users that this is
standard, stable, well-thought-out stuff.  Second, it will mean that
numerical behavior and plain python behavior will be as close as
possible, so it will be easiest to switch between the two.  Third, if
we don't strive for acceptability, we will likely run into a problem
in the future when something we depend on is deprecated or changed.
No doubt this will happen anyway, but it will be worse if we aren't
tight with Guido.  Conversely, if we *are* tight with Guido, he is
likely to be aware of our concerns and take them into account when
making decisions about Python core.

--jh--