[Python-ideas] Introduce `start=1` argument to `math.factorial`

[Petr Viktorin]

On Thu, Sep 18, 2014 at 4:45 PM, Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info> wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 18, 2014 at 10:14:18AM -0400, Terry Reedy wrote:
>> On 9/18/2014 2:15 AM, Nick Coghlan wrote:
>
>> >However, now that CPython ships with pip by default, we may want to
>> >consider providing more explicit pointers to such "If you want more
>> >advanced functionality than the standard library provides" libraries.
>>
>> Having used pip install a few times, I have begun to regard
>> pip-installable packages as almost being extensions of the stdlib.
>
> Sounds great, but let's not get carried away. Remember that many people,
> for reasons of company policy, cannot easily, or at all, install
> unapproved software. Whether for good or bad reasons, they're still
> stuck with what is in the std lib and nothing else.

Not just company policy -- it can be licencing issues. Or just general
trust/paranoia -- installing packages from PyPI just because they look
useful is not the most secure thing to do.

Another reason is sustainability -- I trust Python won't go
unmaintained in a few years, and the few necessary breaking API
changes will be well thought out and properly announced. For a PyPI
project, there are no expectations. Even if it is well run (which
would presumably be a requirement to land in a "stdlib++" list), you
need to gauge an extra project's health, and keep up with an extra
release note stream. I believe that's what Nick meant by "[doing]
research".


Listing "stdlib++" projects would mean vouching for them, even if only
implicitly. Indeed, let's not get too carried away.