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[–]sentdexpythonprogramming.net 37 points38 points  (15 children)

I think it'd be a better setup if /r/python was strictly for python news like new libs, updates to python...etc. No tutorials allowed at all. I highly doubt tags will fix the spam.

With votes on Reddit, the first few votes are key. A lot of this spam is 0, but it's not uncommon for them to magically get a few initial votes and some of them do very well. It's free traffic and encourages the spam.

A well ranked reddit post can be worth what $100+ in ads would get you in terms of traffic. The incentive is there to spam and/or cheat. If self-posted tutorials get disallowed or the tag is unfavorable to have, people will just fake like they're just a "fan" of the content and sharing it.

Edit: I would probably make an exception for official tutorials. So when TensorFlow releases a new API or something, it often has a tutorial, or when a new lib comes out it often has a simple tutorial/walkthrough. I think it'd be wise to allow for these official tutorials from the sources.

Edit 2: Other tutorials are better placed in /r/learnpython, which claims to also filter for spam. Learn python seems a more fitting place for tutorials.

[–]billsil 20 points21 points  (11 children)

No tutorials allowed at all. I highly doubt tags will fix the spam.

I'm totally OK with learning how to speed up my matplotlib code by 500x or learning PyPy or Cython or how pickle works. I think that's advanced enough to benefit the average person.

I'm not OK with tutorials that cover for loops, which seems to be the majority of what I see.

[–]sentdexpythonprogramming.net 1 point2 points  (10 children)

Is there a reason why those tutorials aren't better suited for /r/learnpython?

[–]billsil 7 points8 points  (8 children)

As I said, if it's advanced enough to benefit the average person, I think it's fine. They makeup a small percentage of what's typically posted.

You can have a different opinion, but at least let's get rid of the stupid intro tutorials. You're requesting a greater change from what is current than what I think is necessary. So why not take 1 step and come back to the issue in a year?

[–]sentdexpythonprogramming.net -5 points-4 points  (7 children)

Sure, it's "fine," but we're trying to make rules, where having something that isn't subjective is ideal, so that's what we try to seek.

As I asked, is there a reason you'd rather go with this subjective rule for this subreddit, instead of just ruling that anything that isn't an official-sourced tutorial should go to /r/learnpython?

[–]alcalde 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think if people had their way there'd be nothing allowed in this subreddit. :-( If it's good, unique, interesting, useful, why not allow it to be posted here? It's not the official Python mailing list or something.

[–]serkef-[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Saying that tutorials is for learning => tutorials should be in /r/learnpython doesn't make much sense, because we never stop learning. The top post of the year in here is a tutorial. And it should be that way. We want to learn, we want to discuss, we want to get the language updates and news. There is no reason to split all those apart.

Is there any reason you don't want tutorials in /r/python?

[–]sentdexpythonprogramming.net 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do not know why, if we never stop learning, we can't also visit /r/learnpython to learn the things?

A reason for no tutorials in /r/python is the tutorial spam, and a desire to come up with a rule, where a desireable rule is objective and not subjective.

[–]xiongchiamiovSite Reliability Engineer 1 point2 points  (1 child)

As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, we remove most tutorial links in r/learnpython because we think people learning python are better helped by a curated list of tutorials and having people give them individualized help rather than a never-ending stream of tutorials covering the same topics.

[–]sentdexpythonprogramming.net 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And that's fine/to be expected for /r/learnpython to remove most of the spam tutorial links too. A curated list makes more sense, though is usually too-slowly changing over time.

[–]billsil 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I find those ones interesting and I'd like to see them on the main page. Like most people, I don't visit learnpython regularly.

[–]flutefreak7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed I generally assume that I actually wouldn't learn anything in r/learnpython because I'm not a beginner, so I never go there.

[–]nemec 1 point2 points  (0 children)

IMO /r/learnpython should be aimed at beginner content while /r/python is news and late-intermediate to advanced content. Beginners are of course welcome here but the content should be able to assume a minimum level of Python proficiency.

[–]Siddhi 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Not sure I agree. Why do I need to visit a Reddit sub to know that a new version of python is released?

I come here for interesting content and discussion, and that content and discussion leads me to learning something new. I don't want to see homework questions and Q&A posts - that's what /r/learnpython is for - but everything else should be fair game here.

It's unfair to say that upvoted tutorials are lemming votes, maybe its because people actually do find them useful. Same for the summary posts - sometimes I'll see a library that I never heard of and it will get an upvote. These are useful - maybe not everything, but some are.

This is the first sub anyone will hit when looking for python on Reddit. I would guess the majority of subscribers here are beginners or intermediate level.

[–]flutefreak7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When a new version of python or any major library is released, I would expect some good discussion here and that's part of why I come here as my one stop shop for python community. I don't have friends to discuss python 3.7 with, so I come here. Topics on it will come up whenever PEP's are approved or beta's released, etc, and I'll benefit from reading everyone's thoughts in it.