The decentralized nature of the Python community is driving me crazy

[metaperl.bzr]

hi everyone,

I am the first of what may be hundreds of refugees from the Perl
community. Not only is Python a more productive language, with many
more nice apps, but the people are friendly as well... waaay more
friendly than the Perl crowd.

But I must say the one thing I miss about Perl is my ability to stay on
top of all the latest modules and apps in one place: CPAN. With Python,
code is EVERYWHERE - people's local boxes, sourceforge, freshmeat,
codezoo, parnassus, etc, etc. Different approaches to documentation. A
much nicer install utility (python setup.py install r0x). But I am
finding it hard to keep on top and browse all the wares that are out
there because they are literally all over the net!

And then you have discussion and yet again, there is no perlmonks.org
for Python. We have this, IRC, and what else?

So, I guess this is my way of letting you know how lost I feel about
this de-centralized community. Dont get me wrong. I'm glad to be part
but I was thinking it would be nice if there were a one-stop-shop for
all my chat and wares needs. But for now, I guess I need to just add
few more bookmarks to main places to keep on top of daily besides
pythonware.com/daily.

 

[Ravi Teja]

But I must say the one thing I miss about Perl is my ability to stay on

top of all the latest modules and apps in one place: CPAN. With Python,
code is EVERYWHERE - people's local boxes, sourceforge, freshmeat,
codezoo, parnassus, etc, etc.

Python CheeseShop is equivalent to CPAN
http://www.python.org/pypi

Easy Install provides a nice client
http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall

 

[Mike Orr]

hi everyone,

I am the first of what may be hundreds of refugees from the Perl
community. Not only is Python a more productive language, with many
more nice apps, but the people are friendly as well... waaay more
friendly than the Perl crowd.

But I must say the one thing I miss about Perl is my ability to stay on
top of all the latest modules and apps in one place: CPAN. With Python,
code is EVERYWHERE - people's local boxes, sourceforge, freshmeat,
codezoo, parnassus, etc, etc. Different approaches to documentation. A
much nicer install utility (python setup.py install r0x). But I am
finding it hard to keep on top and browse all the wares that are out
there because they are literally all over the net!

And then you have discussion and yet again, there is no perlmonks.org
for Python. We have this, IRC, and what else?

So, I guess this is my way of letting you know how lost I feel about
this de-centralized community. Dont get me wrong. I'm glad to be part
but I was thinking it would be nice if there were a one-stop-shop for
all my chat and wares needs. But for now, I guess I need to just add
few more bookmarks to main places to keep on top of daily besides
pythonware.com/daily.

Hi Metaperl, glad you're enjoying our language. I left Perl in the
mid 90s and came to Python after a year with Java. So I don't know
what perlmonks.org is. The lack of a CPAN equivalent has been a
persistent lament of Pythoneers over the years, and there have been
several attempts to build a Python one or a multilingual one. The
Cheeseshop and easy_install are the most successful attempts. There's
a project aimed at integrating easy_install into Python itself, but
with the technical and compatibility issues it will take several
months. More and more packages are being listed in the Cheeseshop. If
there's anything of importance that's *not* listed there (and I can't
think of anything), you would do well to prod the owners to get with
the program. You can pretty much ignore Parnassus and Freshmeat etc
unless you have a fondness for old software that will never be in the
Cheeseshop.

comp.lang.python is where most of the discussion takes place, and the
best place to ask questions. It's so big I read it the weekly
Python-URL summary instead, which is how I found your message. I've
never read the daily Python-URL much, but it looks like a good place if
you want more "input" [Number 5 voice; "Short Circuit" movie].

Other good sources of information are local users' groups and
conferences. I attend PyCon every year, and find that something always
happens somehow that sets my direction for the year. Some really good
idea you collaborate on at the conference, then work on during the next
several months. If you're plugged into users' groups, I don't see a
real need to have lots of bookmarks to read every day.

There are a ton of Python books now too that might be helpful. There
are also some good articles on O'Reilly's OnLamp
(http://www.onlamp.com/python/) by several Python bigwigs, including
Cameron Laird who founded the Python-URL. Plus there's Guido's blog of
course (http://www.artima.com/weblogs/index.jsp?blogger=guido).

As for "different approaches to documentation", that's something the
Python community has not come to any consensus on. There are tools
that convert docstrings into documentation, and tools that run tests
embedded in docstrings, and these impose a syntax on the docstrings,
but in each area there are multiple programs and it's too soon to say
which approach will win out. But they are gradually converging.

--Mike <[email protected]>

 

[infidel]

And then you have discussion and yet again, there is no perlmonks.org

for Python. We have this, IRC, and what else?

There's also http://planet.python.org, which is an aggregator of python
blogs that I check many times a day for new posts.

 

[John J. Lee]

several attempts to build a Python one or a multilingual one. The
Cheeseshop and easy_install are the most successful attempts. There's
a project aimed at integrating easy_install into Python itself, but
with the technical and compatibility issues it will take several
months. More and more packages are being listed in the Cheeseshop. If

[...]

Part of setuptools (on which easy_install is built) is already part of
the soon-to-be-released Python 2.5. But most of it is not. More of
it will be in 2.6, once setuptools 0.7 is done (though I'm not sure if
*all* of it even then, if that's inappropriate). Certainly isn't
stopping people from using it, of course: a lot of work has gone into
making easy_install work smoothly with as many existing projects as
feasible (which is quite a good percentage of the projects out there).


This is a good way to see what's going on:

http://www.pythonware.com/daily/


John

 

[Jarek Zgoda]

(e-mail address removed) napisa³(a):

So, I guess this is my way of letting you know how lost I feel about
this de-centralized community. Dont get me wrong. I'm glad to be part
but I was thinking it would be nice if there were a one-stop-shop for
all my chat and wares needs. But for now, I guess I need to just add
few more bookmarks to main places to keep on top of daily besides
pythonware.com/daily.

Centralization is bad. Believe me, I lived nearly 20 years under
communist regime, I know what I am saying. You don't need
centralization, all you need is aggregation upon agreed rules.

We have good aggregator on Planet Python, we have growing package index
in Cheeseshop (already aggregated on Planet) and good tips list on ASPN
(also aggregated on Planet). I see the future is bright for us.