Another thing: pywikipedia-l isn't a hospitable place?
Today, I discussed this with Frances and Sumana a bit, and these are my thoughts on it. Basically, I think there are several things we could improve on. It's not so much that pywikipedia-l is inhospitable, it's rather that it's not as hospitable we could make it.
There are three points I can think of: 'passive inhospitability', in that e-mails sometimes do not get answered. Luckily, you are always very quick in replying to new users, which is great! Still, some mails stay unanswered, and we (as pywikipedia-l) could improve on that. Maybe we can also mention on the mailing list page that IRC might be a better choice than the mailing list for people just getting started to get help.
Secondly, a lot of the discussion on-list is aimed at experienced developers, and assumes a high level of understanding of pywikibot. This can scare people away that want to ask a simple question. This is something we could improve by maybe explicitly mentioning on the mailing list page that basic questions are very welcome, and by actively promoting discussions with people who are unsure how to contribute.
Thirdly, there is 'active inhospitability', which can range from 'RTFM' emails to venting frustration to berating others. Pywikipedia-l (or any other mailing list, for that matter) is /not/ the place for that. I've fallen for the 'venting frustration' a myself, but it's important to keep in mind this shapes the image of the project for people who may not be actively participating at the moment. They might not participate because of a negative atmosphere. Please send frustration-venting emails to me ;-), and send only the constructive mails to the mailing list :-)