About Me

PBX I'm Paul Bissex, and e-scribe.com is my consulting business. I build web applications using open source software, especially Django. I teach photographers web design and professional skills. In the '90s I did graphic design for newspapers and magazines. Then I wrote technology commentary and reviews for Wired, Salon.com, Chicago Tribune, and lots of little places you've never heard of. Feel free to email me.

Book

I'm co-author of "Python Web Development with Django", an excellent guide to my favorite web framework. Its strong points include an introduction to Python, and better coverage of Django 1.0 than nearly anybody else. Published by Addison-Wesley, it is available from Amazon and your favorite technical bookstore as well.

Colophon

Built using Django, served by Apache and mod_wsgi. The database is SQLite. The operating system is FreeBSD, on a VPS hosted at Johncompanies.com. Comment-spam protection by Akismet. Vintage topo imagery from the Maptech archive. The markup engine is Markdown.

Pile o'Tags

Stuff I Use

Akismet, del.icio.us, Django, dpaste.com, Emacs, FreeBSD, Freenode, jQuery, LaunchBar, MacPorts, Markdown, Mercurial, OS X, Postfix, Python, SQLite, Subversion, TextMate, Trac, Ubuntu Linux, wmii

Spam Report

At least 67591 pieces of comment spam killed since January 2008, mostly via Akismet.

Why the python.org redesign is good

I just posted this mini-rant over at reddit.com in response to implications that Python is somehow selling out by getting a more business-friendly makeover.

Here's the thing about the new site being "too corporate" or whatever.

Python is not a band with a MySpace profile and an awesome debut album. It's a programming language. Programming languages live if they're used, and more or less die if they're not used. Enthusiasts, e.g. reddit users, will find what's cool regardless. Corporations, on the other hand, need to be marketed to. If you love Python, you should love the idea of it putting on a little bit of professional dress -- because that ultimately means you are more likely to actually get paid to program in Python down the road.

Maybe one of the reasons you like Python is because it's kind of like the Rebel base on jungle moon Yavin 4 staging a daring attack on the big bad Static Empire. There's certainly part of me that feels that way. As Python becomes more mainstream you are going to feel some pain. That doesn't mean that the growth is wrong; it means that you are devoted to being alternative. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Did you get into Python because of how the old website looked? Of course not. You didn't really care. Because you're a programmer. The language was cool and that drew you in. Maybe the friendly community helped. If this matches your experience, and you didn't really care about how the old site looked, then I recommend not caring about how the new site looks either.

End rant.

Tuesday, March 7th, 2006
design + python + rants