[Python-Dev] The endless GIL debate: why not remove thread support instead? (original) (raw)

Greg Ewing greg.ewing at canterbury.ac.nz
Thu Dec 18 23:52:34 CET 2008

Paul Moore wrote:

Do you know if these remaining problems are listed anywhere?

There was a big discussion about this in comp.lang.python not long ago. Basically all the built-in types and constants are shared between interpreters, which means you still need a GIL to stop different interpreters stepping on each other's toes.

AIUI, certain software (for example modpython) has been using multiple interpreters for a long while now

Multiple interpeters are possible, they're just not completely independent. Whether this is a problem depends on the reason you want multiple interpreters. In the Apache case, it's probably more about providing virtual Python environments than free-threading between interpreters.

-- Greg

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