[Python-Dev] Moving Python 3.5 on Windows to a new compiler (original) (raw)

Brian Curtin brian at python.org
Fri Jun 6 22:28:10 CEST 2014

On Fri, Jun 6, 2014 at 11:42 PM, <dw+python-dev at hmmz.org> wrote:

On Sat, Jun 07, 2014 at 05:33:45AM +1000, Chris Angelico wrote:

> Is it really any difference in maintenance if you just stop applying > updates to 2.7 and switch to 2.8? If 2.8 is really just 2.7 with a > new compiler then there should be no functional difference between > doing that and doing a 2.7.whatever except all of the tooling that > relies on the compiler not to change in micro releases won’t > suddenly break and freak out. If the only difference between 2.7 and 2.8 is the compiler used on Windows, what happens on Linux and other platforms? A Python 2.8 would have to be materially different from Python 2.7, not just binarily incompatible on one platform. Grrmph, that's fair. Perhaps a final alternative is simply continuing the 2.7 series with a stale compiler, as a kind of carrot on a stick to encourage users to upgrade? Gating 2.7 life on the natural decline of its supported compiler/related ecosystem seems somehow quite a gradual and natural demise.. :)

Adding features into 3.x is already not enough of a carrot on the stick for many users. Intentionally leaving 2.7 on a dead compiler is like beating them with the stick.

More information about the Python-Dev mailing list