[Pydotorg-redesign] Re: [Python-Dev] Re: [Python-checkins] python/dist/src/Doc python-docs.txt, 1.2, 1.3

[Skip Montanaro]

[... regarding all the "what is this python crap on my new computer?"
questions which pour into (webmaster|python-help|docs)@python.org ...]

    >> And I thought only webmaster at python.org got asked that question all
    >> the time.  Does it get asked at other addresses as well?  I don't
    >> recall ever seeing it on python-list.

    Fred> I wouldn't expect to see it on python-list.  Aren't the people who
    Fred> ask generally people who *aren't* in the Python community?

Sure enough.

    Fred> They're going to look for the easiest ways to ask, so that
    Fred> generally means googling for "Python" and using whatever contact
    Fred> address is on one of the first pages they find.  The first two
    Fred> Google's showing me now are:

    Fred>     http://www.python.org/       ( webmaster at python.org )

    Fred>     http://www.python.org/doc/   ( docs at python.org )

Yes, but that doesn't quite explain why python-help gets so many of these
questions, as Raymond indicated in his post.  I think they'd most frequently
get to

    http://www.python.org/community/lists.html

then ignore several other mailing lists (python-list, python-dev,
python-checkins, patches, marketing-python and tutor) before deciding that
python-help was what they wanted.  I can understand how intelligent people
would skip all those lists, but I would also expect the other lists to all
get some posts.  If they decide python-help is the place to be, they should
be slightly discouraged from posting by this text:

    Using it is much preferred to sending mail directly to Guido or some
    other individual, but less preferable than posting to comp.lang.python.

Then again, maybe not.  Python-help does appear near the top of

    http://www.python.org/Help.html

(which is reachable via the "Help" link at the top of the home page) and
there are no discouraging words there to direct people other places.

Oh well, it was more out of curiosity than anything else that I asked.  I
suppose it implies something about the way the site is structured, and is
thus a more appropriate topic for the pydotorg-redesign list (to which I've
cc'd this - and removed python-dev).

Skip