[Python-ideas] Python Numbers as Human Concept Decimal System

[Ben Finney]

"Mark H. Harris" <harrismh777 at gmail.com>
writes:

> On Thursday, March 6, 2014 8:09:02 PM UTC-6, Guido van Rossum wrote:
>
> > Mark, it feels like you do not understand Python well enough to be
> > able to make sweeping proposals about its reform.
>
> hi Guido,  I'm sorry, but isn't that the whole point?  The person who 
> notices that something
> isn't working quite right (that would be me) comes to court, as it were, 
> before those who
> are supposed to know intimately how everything works (that would be you) 
> and in good 
> faith asks politely for the "people in the know" to correct the difficulty.

No, that's not the point of this forum. The point of this forum is to
present ideas for improvement to Python and to *defend* those ideas
robustly against critique, in order to converge on concrete proposals.

To do that, you need to have a pretty good understanding of Python as it
currently is, especially in the domain of the change you're proposing,
in order to robustly defend an idea for improvement.

> I hate this:
[…]

If you want a forum for general discussion where complaints lacking a
good understanding of Python can be bounced around, this isn't it. You
can try the general discussion forum for Python
<URL:https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list>.

But beware that even there, complaints about how Python behaves aren't
going to be well received if you show a wilful ignorance of that
behaviour. Mere ignorance is fine, of course: we all start out ignorant
of any given topic. But wilful ignorance isn't a good foundation for
expecting change. It's better to take the complaint as motivation to
*learn* why Python behaves this way, to see if your assumptions may not
be flawed.

> ... and I think the people who DO know intimately how python works,
> should do something to fix it.

You'll need to form a much more concrete understanding of why it is the
way it is, and exactly what behavioural change you want, and an
understanding of the costs and benefits of that change, before such an
expectation would in any way imply an obligation on others to do what
you want. This forum isn't the place to begin with that.

-- 
 \      “You say “Carmina”, and I say “Burana”, You say “Fortuna”, and |
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Ben Finney