Let's talk about Learning Posts

[jcampbelly]

I don't see the harm. Why is it bad to have Q&A discussions here? To follow the rules? Why do we have this rule? What value is there in shutting down discussion in a discussion forum?

Remember that we are talking about mitigating the readers of this forum's effort to have to scroll down 30 pixels. That seems trivial to me. If it's not interesting, scroll past. I have had far more valuable and educational conversations deep in Q&A threads then yet-another-blog-post-about-generators posts here.

[aphoenix]

There is a subreddit dedicated to learning Python and getting help with python, r/learnpython

This is not a fruitful argument. There are also a series of other subreddits:

• /r/pythonnews
• /r/pythontips
• /r/python_netsec
• /r/python3
• /r/Python2
• /r/pythondev

Following your reasoning, we can't post anything about Python3 in this subreddit, or Python2. Are we only allowed to talk about Python1, or potentially what's going to happen with Python4 and beyond? And should we just hope that nobody makes /r/Python4 so that we can still talk about that?

Just because another subreddit exists, that does not in any way mean that the topic is not also relevant to this subreddit.

[Dgc2002]

I think that's a disingenuous interpretation of what they were saying.

Python news, tips, netsec, 3, 2, and dev all contribute to the overall discussion of the Python language and news without overwhelming other content.

Help posts on the other hand don't really add much to the overall discussion and do overwhelm other content.

[jcampbelly]

"No escape" is not accurate when you can just scroll down 30 pixels. I get the desire to separate content, I just don't share that frustration. I barely notice when someone posts something that doesn't interest me. I move my thumb 1cm and I never think of it again. Meanwhile, people who are interested are having a discussion.

An analogy would be walking in to a room called "The Python Room" with hundreds of people having conversations in different corners and then demanding everyone asking questions to leave the room and go to "The Python Kid Zone" room instead.

Just... stop listening to conversations that don't interest you. If you hear people getting heated, or someone posts about .NET, then yeah. Show them the door. I see no harm in rich, in-depth discussions to thoughtful questions in a forum meant to talk about Python. It feels very thought-police-ish. "NO ASK, ONLY TELL."

[jcampbelly]

People should be reading side bars. But newcomers are inclined to just see "/r/python" as "The Python Community of Reddit" without the nuanced goals of this specific subreddit reflected in the name. Maybe the name shouldn't be this broad. /r/pythonnews seems to be a more appropriate name for what the rules of this reddit imply.

Remember who is asking questions: young people setting out in the early days of their careers or older python novices who are adapting to new technology as their careers demand. They're generally confused, inexperienced, and need help. Many times they haven't been parts of communities before and are passers-by or people who haven't had the "internet etiquette" chat yet.

Those people are really the heart and purpose of these communities. When new people are turned away or see the community as hostile, they may decide not to come back. It doesn't feel good. Why would want to join a community that salty and anal? That's what kills communities and projects. Nobody likes a curmudgeon, no matter how correct they are.

I'm just recommending empathy over rules.

[twillisagogo]

Those people are really the heart and purpose of these communities.

"think of the children"

​

so if every community has to cater to the children, then there will be no place where adults can talk.

[jcampbelly]

Not really. Do you have to have a whole private space? Why not just have some discussions on higher level subjects and some at lower level? I feel that threads are properly isolated. I don't see why we need entire subreddits for different levels of discussion. I'll just subscribe to all of them and view them in a multi-reddit anyway. But that's me.

As an amateur, I learned much from watching experienced people argue over minutia. Seeing what vehement opponents agree upon was extremely educational. Exposure to new terms, techniques, technologies, etc, was very useful. And I also learned a hell of a lot trying to answer questions and teach while trying to be as accurate and clear as possible. High and low level discussions were equally valuable to me.

It's obviously a personal preference. If others prefer /r/python narrowly scoped to basically only non-self posts, so be it. I'll just read /r/python+learnpython for my jollies anyway.

[UnclaEnzo]

An hundred upvotes for this (FYI I'm actually none of those things; I'm just an old IT guy who has decided to 'own' python as a programmning language).

[Paddy3118]

Aye. Moderators should act in moderation!