How many followers of comp.lang.python

[rantingrick]

I curious of how many are "really" out there. I have been watching the
list for some time but basically see the same 10 or so people
answering questions.

Reply to this message so we can see how many exists here

Thanks

 

[Mike Driscoll]

I curious of how many are "really" out there. I have been watching the
list for some time but basically see the same 10 or so people
answering questions.

Reply to this message so we can see how many exists here

Thanks

I'm not sure how you arrived at that low number. If you go to the main
page on the Google Groups version, you'll count at least 20 on page
1:

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/topics

Mike

 

[rantingrick]

I also looked at Guido's profile and he has not posted a message here
since 2000. WOW! I know he way ahead of "us" here but why has he not
drooped in for a chat with the python community? Matz(the creator of
Ruby), is a regular at comp.lang.ruby.

This makes me wonder if Guido thinks comp.lang.python is a dead Parrot
(but there could be other reasons?)

 

[rantingrick]

Seems like the only thing people are interested in is bickering and
name calling. I noticed the post "Does Python really follow..." has
over 400 post mainly from the same 10 people. Maybe this is why Guido
no longer wishes to be a part of this group. Where is the sense of
community here?

Anybody care to correct me, because i would love to be wrong about
this, but i fear i am 100% correct.

 

[Mike Driscoll]

I also looked at Guido's profile and he has not posted a message here
since 2000. WOW! I know he way ahead of "us" here but why has he not
drooped in for a chat with the python community? Matz(the creator of
Ruby), is a regular at comp.lang.ruby.

This makes me wonder if Guido thinks comp.lang.python is a dead Parrot
(but there could be other reasons?)

I've seen him on the distutils list, but I think he generally keeps to
the dev lists mostly. This list is for general users (i.e. mostly
newbs). We do get some good discussions going on more esoteric
subjects like memoization, but for the most part, it's posts like how
do I do x if y is z, what's the best Python IDE, which is the best
Python GUI toolkit, I hate the GIL, what's a web framework, etc.

I think Guido has better things to do...and his employer probably
doesn't want him spending all day answering stuff like that.

Mike

 

[rantingrick]

I think Guido has better things to do...and his employer probably
doesn't want him spending all day answering stuff like that.
Mike

I totally agree, and i would never expect him to field noob questions
but i just thought it odd he has not dropped by in over 9 years. I
have seen his blog but i wonder why he does not blog here. Seems like
the best place in the world to get feedback from Python users is here.
He could start some very interesting subjects.

To at least, this medium is more of a "personal" exchange, than a blog.

 

[Bruno Desthuilliers]

rantingrick a écrit :

I totally agree, and i would never expect him to field noob questions
but i just thought it odd he has not dropped by in over 9 years.

All you can say is that he didn't *post* here (at least under his real
identity...) for the 9 past years - this doesn't mean he never *reads*
(and this, you just have no way to know).

 

[Bruno Desthuilliers]

rantingrick a écrit :

Seems like the only thing people are interested in is bickering and
name calling. I noticed the post "Does Python really follow..." has
over 400 post mainly from the same 10 people.

There are occasionally such kind of threads, indeed. And, as Mike
mentionned, the usual FAQs (some of them twice or more each week, year
after year). And sometimes more interesting questions - but that does
not necessarily makes long thread, so they perhaps are too low for your
radar.

Maybe this is why Guido
no longer wishes to be a part of this group.

I've been lurking here for years (about early 2000 IIRC), and don't
remember a single post from the BDFL here. But:

Where is the sense of
community here?

If you set the occasional trolls aside, this group is usually
newbie-friendly and helpful one. You'll find quite a few posts by
long-time, experienced and talented Python programmers (and core
developpers). As far as I'm concerned, I learned (and I'm still
learning) quite a lot here.

Please visit comp.databases or comp.lang.javascript for really
unfriendly and unhelpful places where few happens except "bickering and
name-calling".

Anybody care to correct me, because i would love to be wrong about
this, but i fear i am 100% correct.

Well, why don't you just try and post a couple practical questions here?

 

[Cameron Laird]

Seems like the only thing people are interested in is bickering and
name calling. I noticed the post "Does Python really follow..." has
over 400 post mainly from the same 10 people. Maybe this is why Guido
no longer wishes to be a part of this group. Where is the sense of
community here?

Anybody care to correct me, because i would love to be wrong about
this, but i fear i am 100% correct.

Which "this"? Are you asking for evidence that more
than ten people regularly read comp.lang.python, OR
that there is traffic in comp.lang.python other than
bickering and name-calling?

My own rough estimate of readership is at least 4,000.
If motivated, one could refine the figure, I'm
confident).

 

[rantingrick]

All you can say is that he didn't *post* here (at least under his real
identity...) for the 9 past years - this doesn't mean he never *reads*
(and this, you just have no way to know).

Ah, this is a good point. You have to wonder, Guido could be one of
the regulars here. very interesting. We should have a vote as to who
would be the most likely candidate, now that would be a good thread

 

[Paul Rubin]

All you can say is that he didn't *post* here (at least under his real
identity...) for the 9 past years - this doesn't mean he never *reads*
(and this, you just have no way to know).

Guido does post here once in a while, under his own name. I can't
think of any very recent examples, but I can remember some from a few
years back.

 

[rantingrick]

Guido does post here once in a while, under his own name.  I can't
think of any very recent examples, but I can remember some from a few
years back.

I searched the archives for "Guido van Rossum" and there is nothing
since May 2000. That's the most recent i could find anyway??

 

[Thorsten Kampe]

* rantingrick (Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:03:16 -0800 (PST))

I searched the archives for "Guido van Rossum" and there is nothing
since May 2000. That's the most recent i could find anyway??

Search again - the last was in December 2008:
http://groups.google.com/groups/search?as_q=&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=
10&scoring=d&lr=&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=&as_mind=1&as_minm=1&as_miny=2009
&as_maxd=1&as_maxm=1&as_maxy=2009
&as_ugroup=comp.lang.python&as_usubject=&as_uauthors=guido+van+rossum&sa
fe=off

 

[Mark Wooding]

I've always found comp.lang.c to be a rather dangerous place as well.

Hey, I grew up in comp.lang.c!

I'd have to agree with you, though. (I try to play nice when I'm here.)
In fact, comp.lang.* generally has a reputation as a place you don't
want to find yourself after dark...

Of the newsgroups I read, c.l.python is probably the most friendly and
has one of the highest S/N ratios. People who would have been roasted
alive in other newsgroups for their laziness or presumptuousness get
surprisingly gentle treatment in c.l.python. I do know of a few
low-volume mailing lists that are probably as good, but for a Usenet
news group with any volume at all, c.l.pythong is exceptionally good.

I certainly agree with this. And it's definitely a spirit that's worth
preserving.

-- [mdw]

 

[Mike Driscoll]

Of the newsgroups I read, c.l.python is probably the most friendly and
has one of the highest S/N ratios.  People who would have been roasted
alive in other newsgroups for their laziness or presumptuousness get
surprisingly gentle treatment in c.l.python.  I do know of a few
low-volume mailing lists that are probably as good, but for a Usenet
news group with any volume at all, c.l.pythong is exceptionally good.

I certainly agree with this.  And it's definitely a spirit that's worth
preserving.

-- [mdw]

I don't know if we should encourage the use of pythons as thongs
myself...I didn't even know there was a group on that topic.

Mike

 

[Steve Holden]

I searched the archives for "Guido van Rossum" and there is nothing
since May 2000. That's the most recent i could find anyway??

I suspect his last major interaction was the "voting" for either the
decorator or the ternary operator/if expression syntax. At that point I
suspect he decided interaction with the community didn't actually
improve the design of the language. But I'm not Guido. Honest.

regards
Steve

 

[Mike Driscoll]

Or even:

http://groups.google.com/groups/profile?show=more&enc_user=RVb59hAAAA....

which shows 456 posts to clp over the last 9 years, but only about once a
year for the last 3 years.

For comparison, according to Google I've managed 2251 posts to clp since 1997
which I find kind of scary.

That's not scary! I've managed over 1100 posts since 2007...

Mike

 

[Mensanator]

Ah, this is a good point. You have to wonder, Guido could be one of
the regulars here. very interesting. We should have a vote as to who
would be the most likely candidate, now that would be a good thread

It's not me!!

 

[Bruno Desthuilliers]

Grant Edwards a écrit :

I've always found comp.lang.c to be a rather dangerous place as
well.

Really ? I remember having learned quite a lot there too - but it was
several years ago, and things may have changed.

 

[Bruno Desthuilliers]

rantingrick a écrit :

Ah, this is a good point. You have to wonder, Guido could be one of
the regulars here.

if you mean "one of the regular posters", I have serious doubts about
it. It was mostly a theoretical refutation of your conclusions. The
important point is that you just *can not* tell if he's *reading* this
ng or not...

very interesting. We should have a vote as to who
would be the most likely candidate, now that would be a good thread

Waste of time as far as I'm concerned.