"You should read the responses to your past questions carefully." Yes, I would quite agree with the criticism - except that it assumes that this 'ignorant new user' (as I describe myself) understood fully how to use the functions of this mailing list. This is somewhat unfair as I do not have this understanding. So, I was completely unaware, until I stumbled upon this page, that there were any responses to any of the questions I had sent to the mailing list. Previously the only page that I seemed to be able to find/use is: https://mail.python.org/archives/list/bit-dev@python.org/latest That page has a bell-shaped icon associated with each post I had made with a number beside it.But when I click on that icon I get no response. I concluded that there were no responses and, indeed, began to wonder if this mailing list was active. Now I know that it is - but I seem to be in trouble because I didn't know some thing that I guess must be intuitively self evident to others. Does this mean I should not be using the mailing list, because I lack the necessary intellectual strength ?