[python-advocacy] How programming language webpages should be designed

[Carl Karsten]

On Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 8:52 AM, Jason Baker <amnorvend at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 1:59 PM, Carl Karsten <carl at personnelware.com> wrote:
>> 1. potential python developers - need to write something, get to pick
>> the tools, wondering what python has to offer, maybe considering a
>> career choice.
>> 2. python developers (old and new, but the choice has been made)
>> 3. python users (I have an python app, I need help making it run)
>> 4. technical management that gets to pick tools for a team
>>
>> I have no problem catering to all 4 groups, but each groups needs are
>> fairly different and much like pycon talk selection, there are more
>> options than there is room for, so we have to figure out what to cut.
>
> Personally, I think that it's easy to make the decision to cut #3 out.
>  Not because they aren't important, but more because there's not
> really a lot we can do to help them aside from giving instructions on
> how to install python.
>
> Personally, I think that we need to focus primarily on #1 for the
> front page.  I think that will be best for groups 1 and 4 (and likely
> 2 as well).
>
> The kind of marketing that we're doing right now sounds like the kind
> of thing that would attract PHBs who are likely to say "oh, that's
> cute" and then choose Java or C# anyway because they're "standard".  I
> think that we should really go after technical decision makers who are
> actually technical.  And I think they're more likely to be swayed by
> two things:
>
>  1. The amount of available people who know the language
>  2. The technical merits of it
>
> And I think the best way to address both of those concerns is to make
> it easy to learn the language, not to say things like "Industrial
> Light and Magic is using this, why aren't you?"

I completely agree.

I was on the fence about the PHBs, but I can see enough of them doing
what you suggest that it isn't worth reducing the potential developer
content.  We can still have it available, just not on the opening
view.

-- 
Carl K