[Edu-sig] One list or two?

[Michael Tobis]

>From the edu-sig list

I wrote:

>> On the other hand, let me remind everyone that many people despair of
>> this list because it spends too much time on impractical generalities.

>> So I would add that we shouldn't mistake interesting conversations for
>> progress. Many of the topics raised here are hard and deep but, at
>> least for present purposes, still not very useful.

>> I believe should keep the conversation germane to the intersection of
>> Python and education, specifically, to the development of Python tools
>> that are relevant to education.

to which Kirby Urner replied:

> to do some homework before sounding off and
> acting foolish, the way Tobis does.

There was general agreement among the attendees at the education BOF
meeting at PyCon that a new list was necessary, so although my own
presence is recent, my assertion was not unsupported. There has also
been some discussion of dissatisfaction with the breadth of discussion
here expressed since I have been following the list, notably including
some strongly worded advice from Guido van Rossum recently.

It happens that in response to this general agreement at PyCon, I set
up such a list on Google Groups, with myself and Vern Ceder as owners
and potential moderators, and there has been some traffic moving
there.

http://groups.google.com/group/edupython?lnk=oa

Here is the announcement of that list again, as submitted by Anna Ravenscroft:

===

In order to facilitate small groups working on specific Python-in-Education
projects, we have launched an edupython list on google groups
(http://groups.google.com/group/edupython or edupython at googlegroups.com). We
envision participation by people trying to coordinate work on the nuts and
bolts implementation of a project, with frequent progress reports and
requests for suggestions and comments coming back to edu-sig. The list
developed as a result of a quite well-attended and enthusiastic BOF meeting
at PyCon.

This edupython list is not intended to replace edu-sig, which remains very
strong for theoretical and philosophical discussions, and for getting input
and suggestions from a wider group, but is also necessarily higher
bandwidth. We invite anyone working on Python-related education projects to
join the list.

===

For myself, I would prefer either that there only be one edu-sig list,
and that it stay much more terse, but failing that, that the
alternative edupython at googlegroups be linked from the edu-sig page on
python.org so that newcomers or occasional contributors to the topic
can make their own choice to read from or write to one or both.

mt