I am imagining the pain and hurt these conversations will cause for people who are not as well positioned and not as comfortable in the community.
Just want to throw out a counterpoint to the imagined people - as a real person who is not well positioned or comfortable in the community. I've been lurking on the list trying to wrap my head around the CPython process and how I might contribute. I think it makes sense to remove the S&W standard, making it more open and less intimidating. I'm in a cohort that both agrees with the purported goal and disagrees with the execution. It's disappointing that anyone bringing up any counterpoint has to have a disclaimer so they aren't personally attacked, but this seems to be the level of discourse around these topics. I'm not on Twitter for a reason; the commit message is much more suited to that environment. The goal, if it truly was for making a more inclusive community, has not been accomplished. There is an effect - intended or not - making those of us who would rather focus on solving technical problems than having yet another exhausting emotionally charged rhetorical fight feel unwelcome. The personal attacks being thrown around are not helping. If this was a necessary cost of inclusivity - which is the obvious fallback argument - it would be easier to believe the claim that this is entirely devoted to creating a more open and welcoming community. But the goal of opening things up by removing the S&W guideline could've been trivially accomplished without generating any of this drama. It's baffling claim to promote cohesion and throw a partisan diatribe into the commit message.
Mmm. Well, we said what we had to say.
I think this captures the real intentions of the PR. Best, Matt White