[Edu-sig] The end is near :)

[Arthur]

I picked up the Alice/EA development from a offhand mention of Alice in 
Titus Browns' weblog entry of today.

*Michigan State University, Software Engineering, and Python*

http://www.advogato.org/person/titus/diary.html?start=171

Alice's mention in passing is in effect that it represents a competing 
approach to that which he is advocating, via
Greg Wilson's Software Carpentry and the like

http://www.third-bit.com/swc/

Its a close call, IMO:

silly corrupted condescending bullshit (Alice) vs. substance (Software 
Carpentry)

For the record - rather  its on the record, *here*  - is the fact that I 
have been following Alice with a good degree of horror for some 5 years.

And for the record, I am proud of the fact that I was vocally in 
opposition to it, the approach and ideas (if one call call them
that) it represents and has represented, even when doing so put me in 
direct opposition to  a strong  prevailing sentiment within  the Python 
community
and among its leadership.

I in fact got off on the wrong foot with the community precisely on this 
issue.  And, as the recent correspondence with Dethe indicates, never 
fully regained my footing.

But I think it important to oppose "the Alice", whether it does or does 
not include lines of Python.

And can have no deep regrets that I didn't behave better even at the 
time that  it was a bit of a darling here. It would have been easier to 
have done so.

Art