Mea Culpa | Uncle Timmy’s Secret Cabal

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Style Pass
2024-11-02 04:00:13

This is a mildly reworked version of an email I sent to the SC early during my ban, explaining as best I could make out the real reason people took such offense at me (no, the list of “offenses” still appears beneath even minimal credibility to me). I don’t know what the SC thought of it - they didn’t reply. It remains my best guess.

Reading Chris’s blog reminded me of how very important my “style” was in the early days. It kept c.l.py and python-dev relatively pleasant and flame-free. It was valued by everyone, from Guido down to the rankest newbie. Surely Thomas and Barry remember those days?

So it got way off on the wrong track with me when the old style was characterized as “unfortunately common” in the public shaming (ya, ya, I wasn’t named, but everyone knew). That read like someone who knew nothing about Python’s actual history. There wasn’t anything “unfortunate” about it. It played a major role in Python’s early growth.

Back in those days, mine was also the most dominant voice in those forums. I was Guido’s oracle and by far the most engaged on all kinds of topics - and I read every single msg.

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