[Python-Dev] PyPI comments and ratings, *really*?

[Ben Finney]

Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info> writes:

> On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:54:24 am Guido van Rossum wrote:
>
> > I agree that creating a good social app is not easy, and if we can't
> > improve the social app embedded in PyPI quickly enough, we should at
> > least give authors the option to disable comments. Of course, as a
> > user, I might not trust a module that has no reviews or ratings.
>
> As a user, I'd be more likely to trust a module with no reviews/ratings 
> than one where the author disabled reviews/ratings. The first 
> says "nobody hated it enough to complain", the second one says "the 
> author is trying to hide something".

Agreed, that's how I'd feel (and it's important to note that this would
be an emotional, not necessarily entirely rational, reaction) as a user
also.

Package maintainers who also see that users would feel that way, and who
agree with the purpose of PyPI as a common repository of all third-party
packages, but who *don't* want to deal with PyPI's implementation of
comments (whatever that may be at any time), have a clear option: to
avoid hosting the package at PyPI at all. That's harmful, and I don't
want it; but I don't see an alternative for such a maintainer.

-- 
 \              “Dvorak users of the world flgkd!” —Kirsten Chevalier, |
  `\                                                rec.humor.oracle.d |
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Ben Finney