[Python-Dev] A kind of configuration question

[Tim Peters]

[Guido, to Paul Moore]
> ...
> We seem to disagree on how Windows users use their system.  You seem
> to be a command line user on Windows.  Both Tim & me are more
> mouse-based users, and neither of us spends a lot of time in the
> command line, so we don't see the point of adding yet another thing to
> the distribution.  It is my expectation that *most* Windows users (and
> developers) are like Tim & me, not like you, so we don't feel (if I
> may channel Tim for a change :-) that this would benefit most users.

Well, when playing Windows developer I spend most of my life in a DOS box.
But when playing Windows developer, I also have no need for anyone to write a
trivial .bat file for me, and indeed would probably write my own anyway to
cater to that, e.g., I can set up useful cmdline associations for Python on
Win2K but not Win9X.  Is there *any* Windows developer out there too lame to
do this for themself?  I doubt it.

Does it hurt to include a little .bat file anyway?  YES!  Most Python users
on Windows are not Windows developers, and unlike Paul I'm going to spend a
fair chunk of my life on the Tutor and Help lists trying to explain to the
vast majority *why* the pydoc.bat file in the install directory is useless to
them on their Win9X boxes.  BTW, I use Win9X deliberately at home, partly
because that's what my sisters use, and partly to keep my sympathy high for
all of Python's thousands of Win9X sufferers.

If you want to supply pydoc .bat files, fine, work out a minimal set with
Ping and submit a patch to put them in the Tools/scripts/ directory.  One of
them has to be suitable for linking to directly from the pydoc Start menu
item, but beyond that if they're out of sight they're out of mind so I don't
much care.  I actively want to keep them *out* of the main installation
directory, because newbies want to know about *every* file in that directory,
and there's nothing positive we can tell them about a pydoc.bat file under
their Win9X systems (unless all it does is bring up a GUI).  It's no accident
that Python doesn't ship with any .bat files today.

no-need-to-bend-over-backwards-to-help-people-who-don't-need-help-ly y'rs
    - tim