[Python-Dev] tracker contribution

[Mark Lawrence]

On 18/07/2010 22:24, Jesse Noller wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 18, 2010 at 5:22 PM, Nick Coghlan<ncoghlan at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> On Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 4:43 AM, Mark Lawrence<breamoreboy at yahoo.co.uk>  wrote:
>>>   I'm extremely offended by your comments.  I'll just back off and let the
>>> number of outstanding bugs grow and grow and grow, until such time as people
>>> get fed up with Python and go to (say) Ruby.
>>
>> Please don't take it that way - Antoine and Alexander are just trying
>> to help you make the most effective use of the time you spend
>> contributing (which *is* appreciated!).
>>
>> In my case, I don't spend much time trawling the tracker for issues,
>> so I'm reliant on other people kicking import related issues in my
>> direction by adding me to the nosy list or bringing them up here on
>> python-dev. I think a couple of the items you have commented on ended
>> up on my plate and I should be able to do something about them.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Nick.
>>
>> P.S. 30 closures for 180 comments actually sounds like a reasonable
>> SNR to me. Maybe my perspective is skewed by the fact that I'm not
>> involved in most of them :)
>
>
> And I'm with Nick here. I don't have the time or bandwidth to trawl
> the tracker :( So you bumping things to/for me helps.

Nick, Jesse,

Thank you for your kind comments, they're much appreciated.

Now the fighter bombers dive in to finish of the last pockets of 
resistance. (from a Monty Python album in case you didn't know)

What am I meant to do when as happened earlier today, I see an issue 
that was first raised two years ago, then a year later the OP has asked 
what if anything is happening?  Leave it? That's a great advert for Python.

How do I apply a patch that was raised *SEVEN* years ago to modern 
versions of Python?  The issue is still open.  I do my best to run the 
unit tests if they're available on an issue, but so often they're so old 
that it's all but impossible to apply them without a hell of a lot of 
manual work.  If this had been done in the first place it wouldn't have 
been an issue.

I believe that by now you get my drift.

But to me the most infuriating thing on the bug tracker is when someone 
else has simply bumped the Python versions and that's it.  No attempt at 
contacting the OP as to whether the issue is still applicable.  No 
attempt to try the patches, all in all zilch.  So I come along and 
attempt to backtrack years and get slagged off for it.

Hell, I just wish I was fully healthy and had my MBCS/CEng status back, 
then I'd really feel capable of letting fly.  Having worked on massive 
UK MOD projects (can't say much, Official Secrets Acts and all that 
stuff) and knowing a hell of a lot about change control, configuration 
management, call it what you like, quite frankly Python is years behind. 
  But there I go again, can't rock the boat because someone might get 
upset, to hell with the poor sods putting in their patches years ago and 
being completely ignored.

You all might have gathered that I'm very dispirited by the negative 
attitudes that I get from a relatively small minority of Python people. 
  I might as well quit because it doesn't do my mental health a great 
deal of good.  That minority will of course be very happy to see me go 
because they'll be able to sit back on their loathsome, spotty behinds 
picking blackheads and resort to the usual "we're far too busy to do 
anything" routine.  You might understand that I don't completely agree 
with this.

But to hell with it, I'm as usual feeling absolutely shattered so I'm 
going to bed, please don't try to close too many issues whilst I'm 
sleeping, I won't have anything to do tomorrow afternoon.

Kindest regards.

Mark Lawrence.