Guido van Rossum <guido@digicool.com>:
(But note that I didn't ask you to go ahead and do it. Last time when I started doing this I got quite a few comments from python-dev readers who thought it was a bad idea, so I backed off. It's up to you to convince them now. :-)
I'd forgotten that discussion. But, as a general comment... Propaganda of the deed, Guido. Sometimes this crew is too reflexively conservative for my taste. I have a repertoire of different responses when my desire to make progress collides with such conservatism; one of them, when I don't see substantive objections and believe I can deal with the political fallout more easily than living with the technical problem, is to just freakin' go ahead and *do* it. This makes some people nervous. That's OK with me -- I'd rather be seen as a bit of a loose cannon than just another lump of inertia. (If nothing else, I find the primate-territoriality reactions I get from the people I occasionally piss off entertaining to watch.) I pick my shots carefully, however, and as a result people usually conclude after the fact that this week's cowboy maneuver was a good thing even if they were a touch irritated with me at the time. In the particular case of the string-method cleanup, I did get the impression in New York that you wanted to attack this problem but for some reason felt you could not. I am strongly predisposed to be <laughter mode="mad-scientist">helpful</laughter> in such situations, and let the chips fall where they may. So try not to be surprised if I do more stuff like this -- in fact, if you really don't want me to go cowboy on you occasionally you probably shouldn't talk about your wish-list in my presence. On the other hand, feel very free to reverse me and slap me down if I pull something that oversteps the bounds of prudence or politeness. Firstly, I'm not thin-skinned that way; nobody with my working style can afford to be. Secondly, as the BDFL you have both the right and the responsibility to rein me in; if I weren't cool with that I wouldn't be here.
(This is one of those times when it's a really, *really* good thing that most modules have an attached self-test. I supplied a couple of these where they were lacking, and improved several of the existing test jigs.)
Excellent!
One of the possible futures I see for myself in this group, if both of the library PEPs you and I have contemplated go through and become policy, is as Keeper Of The Libraries analogously to the way that Fred Drake is Keeper Of The Documentation. I would enjoy this role; if I grow into it, you can expect to see me do a lot more active maintainence of this kind. There's another level to this that I should try to explain...among the known hazards of being an international celebrity and famously successful project lead is that one can start to believe one is too good to do ordinary work. In order to prevent myself from become bogotified in this way, I try to have at least project going at all times in which I am a core contributor but *not* the top banana. And I deliberately look for a stable to muck out occasionally, as I did last night and as I would do on a larger scale if I were the library keeper. Python looks like being my `follower' project for the foreseeable future. Take that as a compliment, Guido, because it is meant as one both professionally and personally. This crew may be (probably is) the most tasteful, talented and mature development group I have ever had the privilege to work with. I still rue the fact that I couldn't get you guys to come work for VA... -- <a href="http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/">Eric S. Raymond</a> Alcohol still kills more people every year than all `illegal' drugs put together, and Prohibition only made it worse. Oppose the War On Some Drugs!