[Python-Dev] Continuing 2.x (original) (raw)

Barry Warsaw barry at python.org
Thu Oct 28 18:04:14 CEST 2010

Who is the target audience for a Python 2.8? What exactly would a Python 2.8 accomplish?

If Python 2.8 doesn't include new features, well, then what's the point? Python 2.7 will be bug fix maintained for a long time, longer in fact than previous Python 2 versions. So a no-feature Python 2.8 can't be about improving Python 2 stability over time (i.e. just fix the bug in Python 2.7).

If Python 2.8 is about adding new features, then it has to be about backporting those features from Python 3. Adding new feature only to a Python 2.8 isn't Python, it's a fork of Python. Of course, it's open source and you're always allowed to do that, but you would need to be clear that this isn't "Python". IOW, a distro like Ubuntu would likely never package such a thing as "/usr/bin/python".

What specific features that are showing up in say Python 3.2 are so compelling that they need to show up in Python 2.8, and would compel folks who are pinned to Python 2 to spend the resources to support it? Porting and certifying a code base against a new Python version is always work, sometimes a significant amount of work. What would be so compelling about a Python 2.8 that users, package authors, and distros would be willing to undertake this work?

I'd much rather this enthusiasm be spent on making Python 3 rock, and in porting third party code to Python 3.

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