The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source Python's new governance and core team (Interview)
Jun 6, 2019
Brett Cannon, a prominent software engineer and contributor to Python, shares insights on the significant changes in the Python community following Guido van Rossum's departure. He discusses the complexities of establishing a new governance model, highlighting the collaborative efforts behind new Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs). Cannon delves into the emotional stakes and challenges faced by core developers during this transition, and reflects on the importance of community engagement for Python's future direction and innovation.
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Guido's Retirement
- Guido van Rossum retired from his BDFL role in Python, leaving the project's future governance undecided.
- This "mic drop" moment left the community to determine its own leadership and direction.
PEPs Explained
- Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs) are documents proposing changes, based on the IETF's RFC system.
- PEPs record the proposed change, rationale, implementation, and discussion history.
Choosing How to Choose
- Choosing a new governance model presented a recursive challenge: how to choose how to choose.
- The Python core developers used consensus and discussion on mailing lists to decide on a voting system.