[Tutor] Topic focus of ‘python-tutor’

[Mark Lawrence]

On 19/02/2015 09:51, James Chapman wrote:
> Long-ish reply, but please bear with me.
>
> To quote the list description "This list is for folks who want to ask
> questions regarding how to learn computer programming with the Python
> language and its standard library."
>
> While MySQL modules are not part of the standard library, consider the
> following scenario.
>
> A person, let's call him Xerxes, is interesting in learning to program in
> Python. So he does a whole lot of reading, asks a load of questions on this
> list, he learns the basics. He now thinks to himself, wow, it would be
> really cool if I could actually do something really useful with my new
> skill set, maybe he has a job where building an interface to a database
> would save him and his company a lot of effort, but as MySQL is not part of
> the standard library he's not really sure how to go about it. Since people
> on the tutor list have always been willing to help and offer assistance, he
> thinks, I'll ask there. He asks his question and almost immediately gets
> told that what he's asking is off topic for the list. Let's jump back to
> the list description for a minute there. "This list is for folks who want
> to *ask questions regarding how to learn computer programming with the
> Python language* and its standard library." Is the installation and usage
> of 3rd party modules not related to learning to program with python?
>
> By responding in that manner, you're discouraging the asking of questions.
> No one should *_EVER_ *be discouraged to ask a question they do not know
> the answer to. That response that I referred to in my initial response is
> very common on this list and I think we (collectively) could and should
> come up with a better way of pointing people in the direction of
> satisfactory resolution. I also don't think we should immediately point
> people else where when the question is outside our comfort zone. OO,
> inheritance and multi-byte string processing, to name a few, are part of
> learning to program but are easily more advanced topics than which MySQL
> module to use. Creating C data structures in python, while part of the
> standard library, is an example of a topic that is probably too advanced
> for this list, and even then, I managed to find someone on this list able
> to help with that topic.
>
> If we discourage people from asking more interesting questions then I
> suspect that many subscribers will stop subscribing and that knowledge will
> be lost.
>
> I subscribe to quite a few programming related mailing lists and let me
> tell you, this one is _BY_FAR_ the most willing to help. That question
> would very likely have been ignored on other "more advanced" lists.
>
> Finally, I realise I've offered some criticism but not a suggestion for an
> alternative, so here is an example of a response to a question that would
> be considered "outside the scope" of this list:
>
>
> Hi Xerxes
>
> Great question. I know there are many options when it comes to MySQL but
> I've not had any experience with any. Someone else on this list might be
> able to provide a satisfactory answer, but, as the main focus of this list
> is learning to program in python using the standard library you might not
> get an answer, and if you do, the answer might not be very knowledgeable.
> You could try asking your question on forum X or mailing list Y as these
> types of topics are often covered there.
>
> James
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IMHO you're talking crap, now can we please move on?

-- 
My fellow Pythonistas, ask not what our language can do for you, ask
what you can do for our language.

Mark Lawrence