FWIW, In my experience, the Python community has consistently been full of high-quality, very welcoming people. I don't understand why different parts of the open source world vary in such things, but they do seem to (in my limited experience) and the Python world is consistently awesome.
Your mileage may vary, of course...
(and, also fwiw, ned batchelder has a reputation for exemplifying that spirit – just trying to give credit where it's due.)
I had to make two patches because the testing style has changed slightly between the two, but also, it's guaranteed to apply better if I make them against the tip of each version.
I contributed a tiny fix for a bug in Tkinter, Python's built in GUI module. There's a contributor form to sign before your first contribution can be accepted, but everyone was friendly, and it was committed quickly once I'd returned the form.
Interesting that you had to create two patches for python 2.x and 3.x. (Frustrating, no?)
Seems like you were able to get this submitted and fixed fairly quickly; the Python guys seem like a welcoming group.
Has anyone else had experience contributing to this particular project?