On 21 July 2015 at 11:03, Ben Finney ben+python@benfinney.id.au wrote:
If challenged to do so, could one (the contributor) present a compelling justification for the change?
This is what I claim Paul Moore's doubt (fear?) is indicative of. I maintain that this doubt is quite healthy: it helps the contributor to pause, reflect, seek assistance in making decisions, and thereby also tends to exclude poorly-justified changes which would otherwise be committed.
That is not what I was trying to express. My fear is that I will be subjected to the sort of unreasonable level of debate and frankly criticism that came up in this thread, and I'm not sure if I have the energy to deal with it. I wouldn't ever commit something unless in my judgement it was OK to go in. Whether my judgement is sufficient is the whole point here.
And to be honest, there's an implication in your comment that you think there is a possibility that any of the core devs might commit something when they had a level of doubt[1] about whether it was right to do so. I think that implication is unwarranted, and constitutes exactly the sort of subtle criticism that escalates things like this. I'm sure that's not what you intended, and I know I've reached a point with this thread where I'm over-sensitive to such implications, but it's a good illustration of how even a well-meaning comment can be perceived very differently than it was intended by the recipient.
For something which is a hobby for me, I'd rather feel more joy in what I achieve, and less burden of responsibility. Changing code that affects I-don't-even-want-to-know-how-many people and businesses is quite enough responsibility without also having to put up with only hearing from people who disagree with what I do, and never from people who are grateful...
End of unnecessarily emotional outpouring, we now return you to your regular scheduled flamewars :-)
Paul
[1] That's doubt, not mistakes. People make mistakes. The big problem here is python-dev is becoming pretty hostile to people who (are perceived to) make mistakes. That is, ultimately, all of us.