Path: csiph.com!usenet.pasdenom.info!news.etla.org!news.stack.nl!newsfeed.xs4all.nl!newsfeed2.news.xs4all.nl!xs4all!newsgate.cistron.nl!newsgate.news.xs4all.nl!post.news.xs4all.nl!not-for-mail Return-Path: X-Original-To: python-list@python.org Delivered-To: python-list@mail.python.org X-Spam-Status: OK 0.014 X-Spam-Evidence: '*H*': 0.97; '*S*': 0.00; 'base.': 0.05; 'column': 0.07; 'rest,': 0.07; 'mess': 0.09; "people's": 0.09; 'promising': 0.09; 'worked,': 0.09; 'cc:addr:python-list': 0.11; '"release': 0.16; 'backward': 0.16; 'from:addr:rosuav': 0.16; 'from:name:chris angelico': 0.16; 'stuart': 0.16; 'tab': 0.16; 'alpha': 0.16; 'wrote:': 0.18; 'later': 0.20; 'cc:addr:python.org': 0.22; 'new,': 0.24; 'mon,': 0.24; 'cc:2**0': 0.24; 'header:In-Reply-To:1': 0.27; 'tried': 0.27; 'friends,': 0.30; 'message-id:@mail.gmail.com': 0.30; 'getting': 0.31; "d'aprano": 0.31; 'piece': 0.31; 'steven': 0.31; 'stuff': 0.32; 'weeks': 0.32; 'something': 0.35; 'but': 0.35; 'received:google.com': 0.35; 'version': 0.36; "didn't": 0.36; 'pm,': 0.38; 'that,': 0.38; 'anything': 0.39; 'embedded': 0.39; 'release': 0.40; 'most': 0.60; 'simple': 0.61; 'first': 0.61; 'story': 0.63; 'myself': 0.63; 'finally': 0.65; 'side': 0.67; 'population': 0.68; 'brand': 0.72; 'jul': 0.74; 'feedback,': 0.84; 'learn.': 0.84; 'to:none': 0.92 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:cc :content-type; bh=gjfcVhe8bVeLmig2GeTBcdftCcHqA9dd7jNmFDDy48M=; b=uCPppko0r7h7CFYzJZc/C1s/AGoy1PQSkQNE8n3oxwaIF1y9vMiWAwwoKPae7doV4H O9W9Lf87Y9Y98JKXrVxg8ZBd2ZhGAiiUVi9bnXys5lHPF2PVyopjy/uUgZEuqhOciwge Fr6zdUTidnJJNJCzPoThPsywpVlVlZApi/zXA5y1fi1D2yg2YulOa5yc3EOFtldqiBCq QnEkqAju+TClvaSMaMdUNBkbBDeHvxftOEMBc3G+q3TtwwstfZXV0J1JZeiD04HbeVXV NcMQS6vxsZAxgcQzcPGI49cdsKFAhVI3HuIJzw/N6eavNuIitjpn3dTefMWY0cVe8bBN 1PmA== MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Received: by 10.58.107.146 with SMTP id hc18mr10344433veb.37.1404701418303; Sun, 06 Jul 2014 19:50:18 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <53ba05d6$0$29985$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com> References: <53B59358.2040404@tobiah.org> <53ba05d6$0$29985$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com> Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2014 12:50:18 +1000 Subject: Re: PEP8 and 4 spaces From: Chris Angelico Cc: "python-list@python.org" Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 X-BeenThere: python-list@python.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.15 Precedence: list List-Id: General discussion list for the Python programming language List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Newsgroups: comp.lang.python Message-ID: Lines: 23 NNTP-Posting-Host: 2001:888:2000:d::a6 X-Trace: 1404702809 news.xs4all.nl 2872 [2001:888:2000:d::a6]:53891 X-Complaints-To: abuse@xs4all.nl Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.python:74072 On Mon, Jul 7, 2014 at 12:28 PM, Steven D'Aprano wrote: > The story of makefiles is a warning of the dark side to "release early, > release often", and the dangers of using alpha software in production: > > [quote] > Why the tab in column 1? Yacc was new, Lex was brand new. I hadn't tried > either, so I figured this would be a good excuse to learn. After getting > myself snarled up with my first stab at Lex, I just did something simple > with the pattern newline-tab. It worked, it stayed. And then a few weeks > later I had a user population of about a dozen, most of them friends, and > I didn't want to screw up my embedded base. The rest, sadly, is history. > -- Stuart Feldman > [end quote] Perhaps. Or perhaps it's a warning about the importance of version 0 of a piece of software: you "release early, release often", but you start with version 0.1, where the standard backward compat guarantees don't hold. You get some feedback, and then when you finally release version 1.0, you start promising not to mess people's stuff up; but before that, anything might change. ChrisA