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“I'm basically giving myself a permanent vacation from being BDFL”

(mail.python.org)
2024 points randlet | 3 comments | 12 Jul 18 15:22 UTC | HN request time: 0.735s | source
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jacquesm ◴[12 Jul 18 18:52 UTC] No.17517514[source]▶
Reading that thread is like reading an actual Monty Python plot.

Guido van Rossum has given his life for this language and besides the obligatory 'thanks for all the fish' there isn't even a single person who stops the clock to evaluate what went wrong that they pushed out the person that started this all.

Instead it's 'kthxbye' and they're already dividing up the cake to see who gets to rule.

Not the nicest moment in the history of FOSS, I wonder what kind of a mess will ensue when Linus steps down.

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edw519 ◴[12 Jul 18 19:24 UTC] No.17517779[source]▶
...there isn't even a single person who stops the clock to evaluate what went wrong...

This is perfectly consistent with 99% of the management behavior I've witnessed for years in the enterprise. We understand that we live in a world of cause and effect, but almost everyone is so busy poking at the effect that there's no energy left to discover and treat the cause.

It's a shame that so many of us workers continue to have so much passion for the work at hand and so little for everything else. It seems like it almost always comes down to this.

Respect, Guido.

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1. IMTDb ◴[12 Jul 18 19:33 UTC] No.17517861[source]▶
This is because often the "cause" is actually jut time ticking :

- What was fun 3 years ago isn't anymore

- That feature that was useful to your customers is no longer serving purposes

- It was about new feature, and now it's about maintaining compatibility

- ...

There is no real cause to "treat", you just need to adapt to the new environment you are facing.

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2. xg15 ◴[12 Jul 18 20:00 UTC] No.17518125[source]▶
That seems too easy. That guy was the core of the Python community for over 20 years. Supposedly he has seen a lot of ups, downs and drama and experienced the downward slope of the motivation curve often enough and still held on - until now. So what was different this time?

> There is no real cause to "treat", you just need to adapt to the new environment you are facing.

Maybe, maybe not. The purpose of a deeper analysis should be to find out whether or not it might be like this - but you can't just assume it's like this from the start.

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3. IMTDb ◴[12 Jul 18 20:14 UTC] No.17518228[source]▶
> That guy was the core of the Python community for over 20 years

Exactly. I can't imagine keeping the same job/role for 20 years. Guido even says it : he is tired. He has had the energy, drive and will to steer the python ship for 20 years. He now feels that it is time for him to take a well deserved holiday/vactaion/time off.

As other have said, this has probably already been discussed within the core devs already.

But people need to find a "reason" to explain what is just a very natural process. And will spend countless hours looking for it instead for just moving to the next adventure.