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Python Language Founder Steps Down (zdnet.com)
After almost 30 years of overseeing the development of the world's most popular language, Python, its founder and "Benevolent Dictator For Life" (BDFL), Guido van Rossum, has decided to remove himself entirely from the decision process. From a report: Van Rossum isn't leaving Python entirely. He said, "I'll still be there for a while as an ordinary core dev, and I'll still be available to mentor people -- possibly more available." It's clear from van Rossum's note he's sick and tired of running the organization. He wrote, "I don't ever want to have to fight so hard for a PEP (Python Enhancement Proposals) [PEP 572 Assignment Expressions] and find that so many people despise my decisions." In addition, van Rossum hints he's not been well. "I'm not getting younger... (I'll spare you the list of medical issues.)" So, "I'm basically giving myself a permanent vacation from being BDFL, and you all will be on your own." From the email: I am not going to appoint a successor. So what are you all going to do? Create a democracy? Anarchy? A dictatorship? A federation? I'm not worried about the day to day decisions in the issue tracker or on GitHub. Very rarely I get asked for an opinion, and usually it's not actually important. So this can just be dealt with as it has always been. At Slashdot, we had the privilege of interviewing Guido van Rossum, a Computer History Museum honoree, in 2013.
I'm 60, and yeah, health things creep up on you. We'll lose the first generation of Free Software / Open Source folks soon.
Bruce Perens.
Meanwhile in Perl land, the founders have tried to step down multiple times, but nobody could read their resignation letters.
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
Stepping down is no good, to truly be out of the loop you have to un-indent.
Nullius in verba
Are there any computer languages that are well-designed and well-documented?
"Well-designed" is purely a matter of opinion, and I'd say there are many that are well-documented. To be fair, there's a distinction between language documentation and standard library documentation, and sometimes library documentation can be a bit lacking -- but there are still many that are excellent.
Why was there enthusiasm for Python? It seems to me that now there is less enthusiasm for Python. Is that correct?
Python is the second most popular language on GitHub and its popularity has been climbing yearly. There are many reasons why there's enthusiasm for it, and they're mostly personal opinions, but many people would tell you the reasons they like Python are the speed of development, intuitive language syntax, a comprehensive standard library, and massive numbers of open source libraries.
Why do programmers adopt new languages so enthusiastically? Is that an interesting hobby?
Yes, actually, designing and learning new languages is fun for many people.
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)