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Out of interest, why might Stack Overflow users deem the following question on Python package administration to be off-topic?

The question was researched prior to posting - there's no decent clarification on the roles on PyPI, The 'Maintainer' role is simply listed as "Can submit and update info for a particular package name." and I can't find anywhere else where it's made more explicit.

It seems to me to fall under the FAQ's question guidelines...

  • Relevant - Python's package index is a relevant programmer tool, with a tag on Stack Overflow.
  • Specific - The question addresses a very specific programming related task related to PyPI package maintenance.
  • Answerable - There's a good answer against the question that was helpful for me, and I assume would be helpful for others.
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closed as too localized by Robert Harvey Oct 12 '12 at 16:31


Is PyPI a software application that you install on your own computer to maintain packages, or is it just the name of some repository of Python software located somewhere on the Internet? Is it specific to programmers, or is it a general-purpose software repository of broad interest to almost anyone? Is the software normally administered by the programmer himself, or by someone else? –  Robert Harvey Oct 12 '12 at 16:11
Worth noting: Martijn Peters (one of the close voters) answered your question before it was closed. –  Robert Harvey Oct 12 '12 at 16:18
It's Python's package index, similar to Perl's CPAN. Very programmer-specific. –  Tom Christie Oct 12 '12 at 16:20
I don't know anything about either of those tools, sorry. Maybe that was the case with the close-voters as well. Perhaps you could help me out? –  Robert Harvey Oct 12 '12 at 16:21
(And is administered by the developer, yes.) –  Tom Christie Oct 12 '12 at 16:21
Alright, well this is not worth spending a lot of time on, so I'm going to reopen it. If the community closes it again, you're on your own. –  Robert Harvey Oct 12 '12 at 16:24
It's a borderline case; it's the package repository for Python packages, but it's an external website. It is lacking documentation important for developers that want to distribute packages, and the question did make me curious enough to trawl through the PyPI source code to answer that question. In retrospect, I would not have voted to close. –  Martijn Pieters Oct 12 '12 at 16:51

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