Community (*sigh*)

[Thomas Jollans]

You want to contribute to the stdlib? No problem, it's easy! I did so
recently. You file an issue on the python.org bug tracker, describing
the problem, and attach a patch that fixes it. A nice developer with
commit rights will be with you shortly. The guy that committed my tiny
little patch the other day was even kind enough to add me to the authors
(or was it acknowledgements? I forget.) file.

Oh, you want to contribute a new package/module? Then write it, and post
it to the cheese shop! If it's any good, people may want to help you
build upon the foundation you laid. If it's really, really good, and
universally useful, it might actually end up in the stdlib. For example,
the standard unittest module which we all know and love was an
independent package once upon a time!

Also, I'm sick of reading "a modest proposal" in hundreds of subject lines.

-- Thomas


On 06/13/2010 05:09 AM, rantingrick wrote:
> 
> -------------------------
>  Where is the community?
> -------------------------
> 
> I think the Python community is broken. I think we don't really "have"
> a community. It's more like a handful of negitive people at the top
> and every one else is chopped liver.
> 
> Just today i saw another chance to contribute code to Python's stdlib,
> but then that nagging feeling of "Whats the use, these people are just
> going to discredit you and never accept code from you just because
> they hate you". Sadly though the only damage is done to Python.
> 
> For those who are not aware my very first post to c.l.p (and Usenet)
> was about 1.5 years ago. At that time i saw a void that Python could
> fill nicely as a simple scripting language for an very quickly
> advancing 3D modeling application (Google SketchUp). (You can search
> the archives for a thread called..."Help, Google SketchUp needs a
> Python API" if you are interested.)
> 
> So i my first thought was to find out if anyone was interested in
> starting this project up. So i posted my ideas and to my complete and
> utter surprise i was lynched by the Python community as a heretic...."
> How dare you ask other people to help do what you should be doing
> yourself "... well that was the "Sunday school" version of the
> responses i received. I was discredited and mobbed for no apparent
> reason except that i had the balls to ask the question in the first
> place. I was only looking to get feedback, but the endless hoards
> insisted that "they" new my intentions better than *I*.
> 
> Why was the reaction so negative? Well i will admit some fault in the
> fact that i trashed Ruby pretty bad. I felt everything i said was true
> IMO then as is now (mostly). People should have a right to opinions.
> However since i was such an "unknown" and you could say a "newbie",
> was this reaction warranted? I think not, and it speaks volumes to the
> negative attitudes within this community.
> 
> This brings me to a new question. How many really exceptional Python
> programmers have been left out OR pushed out because of the extreme
> narcissism of the "core" python group. And when i say "core" i am
> speaking of the handful of people who hang out here discrediting and
> mobbing anybody they see as a threat to their superiority. They clutch
> to power like a hated dictator because that is all they have left.
> 
> You people need to get a life, drop your narcissistic attitudes and be
> more helpful, friendly, and welcoming to the wider world. This
> community is not a community, its a "Cosa Nostra". Your predator like
> behaviors are bleeding the spirit of Python's community. This
> community does not belong to you or me or even GvR, we all share an
> equal piece. And no matter how much, or little, each of use
> contribute, we all share an equally divided peice.
> 
> I have spoken with "other" Python programmers (far more advanced than
> myself) who echo this sentiment. However unlike me they cannot afford
> to sacrifice their image to this group, EVEN if the group is at fault!
> However this behavior is causing Python to suffer from lack of diverse
> developers, and shrinks the pool of those who wish to participate.
> 
> But i'll tell you one thing, you will never bleed me dry because i am
> stronger than all! I will be a thorn in your sides every time you pick
> on a newbie. I will point out every negative comment you make, it will
> not be hidden as you like. Whether i am accepted or assassinated i
> will create an irreversible butterfly affect that no organization of
> negativity can endure. I will bring some positive attitudes to this
> group if it's the last thing i do! That will be my contribution to
> this group, and it may just save the Python community as a whole!
> 
> 
> 
> 
>