[Pythonmac-SIG] My stab at a new page

[Charles Hartman]

On Feb 10, 2006, at 5:34 PM, Bill Janssen wrote:

>> Charles Hartman wrote:
>>> It seems to me (as *much* closer to a newbie than a developer) that
>>> simply recommending the download & install of Python 2.4.x not only
>>> wouldn't put a major obstacle in the way of beginners, but wouldn't
>>> seem to, either.
>>
>> Exactly. It's not like anyone but Linux users expects everything  
>> to be
>> pre-installed on their machine! You have to download something to try
>> out RealBasic, or whatever, as well.
>>
>> -Chris
>
> I don't know about that.  The Mac philosophy is something like, "It
> just works".  I hear that a lot from new Mac users around here.

The audience we're imagining is one looking to branch out a little --  
into programming, to begin with, into Python in particular. If that  
involves downloading something, that's perfectly familiar territory.  
If I were a Mac user interested in a new approach to word processing  
I'd expect to download Nisus Writer, or whatever. (For that matter,  
Word doesn't come free on Macs.) I think the Python is parallel, from  
that psychological standpoint. (The fact that Apple ships a version  
of Python is a red herring here.)

Charles