[Python-Dev] Contributing to Python

[Brett Cannon]

On Jan 3, 2008 5:24 PM, Titus Brown <titus at caltech.edu> wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 03, 2008 at 03:24:16PM -0500, Joseph Armbruster wrote:
> -> Having a "core mentor" would be great but do they really have time for
> -> that?  I've been lucky at finding people in #python / #python-dev) that can
> -> answer development inquiries (or at least verify something is or is not a
> -> bug).
>
> Again, IMO as someone on the lunatic fringe of core development (i.e.
> I'm a happy spectator, but I'm too busy to actually get much done):
>
> Mentoring coders may not be a traditional route for hard-core OSS
> developers, but it sure can be effective, as I've found with GHOP.
>
> For example, many core Python developers can save an outsider hours of
> effort by simply and quickly outlining the issues involved in a
> particular patch or coding effort.  Having actual committers involved is
> especially good, because they can evaluate whether or not a patch is
> likely to be accepted, potentially cutting out more hours of effort; and
> they can directly commit patches, leading to the very important
> gratification of an actual commit.
>

I know I am happy to do stuff that way when I have time.  I know I am
just currently drowning under work for the first half of 2008 (PyCon,
my own Py3K stuff, and thesis).

> >From another angle, there are a lot of "easy" fixes/patches/updates to
> be done to Python, but I'll be damned if I can figure out which ones are
> easy meat, or complex, or likely to touch a nerve.  Having someone
> experienced to quickly give an opinion is invaluable.  (I'm an
> overconfident loudmouth, so I don't mind posting to this list, but I
> think python-dev is pretty intimidating for people new to the hurly
> burly of OSS development.)
>

I hope that when it comes time to change the issue tracker schema we
can have a reasonable difficulty rating.  That should also help for
Python bug days since we can say "look at easy bugs if you don't
really know C stuff, look at medium if you know C, and tackle hard if
you want to dive into the nitty-gritty".

> As I've said in other responses in this thread, I'm not sure how to make
> it happen, but I'm leaning towards asking the active GHOP mentors to try
> to extend the GHOP mentoring effort into a general python-love effort.
> We've got a good group of experienced people, and it's been a pretty
> friendly list IMO.

Could work.  Don't know if another list is really needed; couldn't
python-dev handle general questions?  But then again, that is what the
tracker is for.

-Brett