Mailing lists provide an interesting `energy barrier', in that a
contributor has to explicitly ask someone to be added to the list. A
tiny barrier, but enough to filter out many of the chatty dilettantes.
[Mind you, I don't feel in any way that these unreflective ignorant
people are *bad* people, just that they tend to clog the communications
channel.]
On the other hand, moderated newsgroups seem to work well;
comp.dcom.telecom is a shining example. But they demand some work from
a moderator. I'd suggest that if a Python newsgroup is felt to be
really necessary, that a moderator be solicited from the members of
python-list.
Bill