[Python-ideas] Add citation() to site.py

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 09:49:50AM -0700, Nikolaus Rath wrote:
> On Mar 23 2016, Alexander Belopolsky <alexander.belopolsky-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> > On Wed, Mar 23, 2016 at 4:54 PM, Nikolaus Rath <Nikolaus-BTH8mxji4b0 at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> >
> >> >> Yeah, but the "others" don't benefit from it and don't care about it.
> >> >
> >> > What's the basis for this assertion?
> >>
> >> The responses on this list so far.
> >
> > The first two responses to OP were +1's.  That's enough to invalidate your
> > assertion.
> 
> I understood them as "I'd like to have citation information as a
> builtin", not "I would benefit from Python being cited".

This argument is a waste of everybody's time. Regardless of whether you, 
or anyone else, thinks that Python needs to be cited, or whether we get 
any benefit from that, *people will cite it no matter what we think*.

If you read my original post in this thread, I link to examples of 
people asking how to cite Python, because they intend to cite it. When a 
scientist who has written a paper gets told by the journal editors to 
cite the software used, then regardless of what you or I think about the 
matter, the author will cite. If somebody doing their thesis is told by 
their supervisor to cite, they will cite. What you and I think about 
this is irrelevant.

All we can do is help them, or not, according to whether we feel like 
being helpful or not.

My vote is to be helpful, but I am satisfied that a "Citation" page in 
the documentation is enough for now.



-- 
Steve