PEP0238 lament

[Steve Horne]

On Mon, 23 Jul 2001 15:08:32 GMT, Michael Abbott
<michael.g.abbott at ntlworld.com> wrote:

>"Arthur Siegel" <ajs at ix.netcom.com> wrote in 
>news:mailman.995894318.12197.python-list at python.org:
>
>> 
>> To the extent anybody cares - and there is no particular
>> reason anybody should - the anger in my posts that Guido
>> interprets as directed toward him, is real anger.  But not
>> meant to be directed at him.
>> 
>> Except to the extent that I feel he unwittingly collaborates
>> in the breakdown of community dynamics.  Aloofness from
>> the community should count against, not for, one's cause -
>> whatever it happens to be.
>
>Actually, I'm quite suprised at just how rude Guido is in his replies.

Here I do disagree, though I was rather annoyed once when I
*complemented* Python by saying that, although I was initially
sceptical about list comprehensions, I actually found them very useful
- and rather than accepting the complement he twisted that single case
into a character judgement where I was supposed to be *always* be
excessively judgemental about things and blatantly about to burst a
blood vessel.

For those who have been reading my current posts, until a couple of
days ago I have *never*, IIRC, posted any serious criticism of Python.
I've commented occasionally on alternate views, but never said Python
was flawed. I have, in fact, often spoken in defence of the Python way
- though admittedly I don't often follow the group at all.

Anyway, in general Guido handles the benevolent-dictator role
extremely well - it has to be extremely frustrating in the position he
is in, and I'm surprised he has been generally as polite as he has.

I hope he sees my current posts as they are intended - I see PEP0238
as being something worthy of extreme scepticism if not outright
terror. But I only care at all because Python *is* a good and
worthwhile thing, and as a result I have been a very vocal advocate in
my company.

Fortunately, I only have to worry about internal things - some people
have to worry what happens on customers sites and - presumably, with
todays free software attitudes - on the sites of customers of
customers that they've never even had contact with.

However, the day when the support staff have to say "sorry, I know we
could do that last week, but nothing works any more and it'll take a
few months before this thing reaches the head of the debugging queue"
to a customer - or worse, they don't realise it doesn't work any more
and tell the customer a completely erroneous result - is NOT a day I'm
looking forward to.

-- 
Steve Horne
Home : steve at lurking.demon.co.uk
Work : sh at ttsoftware.co.uk