Re: Teaching python to non-programmers

References	(4 earlier) <op.xd4g9kvg5079vu@gnudebeest> <8c101063-9abe-49f1-a8ab-c5d7048079be@googlegroups.com> <mailman.9166.1397188750.18130.python-list@python.org> <79e36d43-6170-46a0-8f8e-9462f27efd2f@googlegroups.com> <CAPTjJmp63-wCjFmfS0xRk2X0eZ6OZ=ceiWCxuzSE5Kp0BpfgPg@mail.gmail.com>
From	Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com>
Date	2014-04-10 23:39 -0600
Subject	Re: Teaching python to non-programmers
Newsgroups	comp.lang.python
Message-ID	<mailman.9169.1397194808.18130.python-list@python.org> (permalink)

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On Thu, Apr 10, 2014 at 11:11 PM, Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 2:37 PM, Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Right. Its true that when I was at a fairly large corporate, I was not told:
>> "Please always top post!"
>>
>> What I was very gently and super politely told was:
>> "Please dont delete mail context"
>
> Then you were told that by someone who does not understand email.
> That's equivalent to being told "Don't ever delete any of your code,
> just comment it out". I don't care who's saying that, it's bad advice.

That depends on what the mail is being used for.  For instance there's
a difference between mail-as-dialogue and mail-as-business-process.
In the former it is normal, even polite, to prune as the topic evolves
and past quotations become less relevant.  In the latter it seems more
common for the entire thread to be preserved as a sort of "chain of
custody" -- this way the next person who needs to see the email thread
has full context as to what needs to happen and where the request is
coming from.

I'm generally in the habit of not pruning work-related emails even
when they are more of the dialogue type, because these tend to be very
tightly focused, and so that if a new person needs to be brought into
the conversation they will have the full context of what we're talking
about and why we're talking about it.

Thread

Teaching python to non-programmers Lalitha Prasad K <lalithaprasad@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 21:24 +0530
  Re: Teaching python to non-programmers pete.bee.emm@gmail.com - 2014-04-10 10:53 -0700
    Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-04-10 19:36 +0100
      Re: Teaching python to non-programmers pete.bee.emm@gmail.com - 2014-04-10 13:52 -0700
        Re: Teaching python to non-programmers "Rhodri James" <rhodri@wildebst.org.uk> - 2014-04-10 23:40 +0100
          Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 20:17 -0700
            Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 13:59 +1000
              Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 21:37 -0700
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 15:11 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Paul Rudin <paul.nospam@rudin.co.uk> - 2014-04-11 06:34 +0100
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 15:42 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers alister <alister.nospam.ware@ntlworld.com> - 2014-04-11 10:46 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 21:01 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers alister <alister.nospam.ware@ntlworld.com> - 2014-04-11 11:48 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 22:42 -0700
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 22:54 -0700
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 16:01 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-11 11:36 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 16:00 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-11 11:34 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Paul Rudin <paul.nospam@rudin.co.uk> - 2014-04-11 12:46 +0100
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-11 11:59 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2014-04-11 07:39 -0500
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 22:50 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 11:19 -0700
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-12 01:45 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers alex23 <wuwei23@gmail.com> - 2014-04-14 16:13 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-04-14 00:59 -0600
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 23:39 -0600
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-11 10:07 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 20:17 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 15:54 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-11 09:37 +0000
              Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-11 07:09 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 17:19 +1000
            Re: Interleaved vs. top-posting Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2014-04-11 07:44 -0500
              Re: Interleaved vs. top-posting Bob Martin <bob.martin@excite.com> - 2014-04-12 07:28 +0100
          Ostracising bad actors (was: Teaching python to non-programmers) Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2014-04-11 13:28 +1000
          Re: Teaching python to non-programmers pete.bee.emm@gmail.com - 2014-04-11 13:20 -0700
            Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 17:50 -0700
            Re: Teaching python to non-programmers "Rhodri James" <rhodri@wildebst.org.uk> - 2014-04-13 23:51 +0100
              Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-04-14 00:54 +0100
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-14 00:20 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-04-14 08:32 +0100
        Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-04-11 14:43 +0100
        Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Mark H Harris <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 09:12 -0500
  Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 11:24 -0700
  Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Mark H Harris <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 09:35 -0500

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