[Python-Dev] Proposing the deprecation of the pyvenv script (original) (raw)

Barry Warsaw barry at python.org
Fri Sep 18 17:16:02 CEST 2015

On Sep 18, 2015, at 07:53 PM, Nick Coghlan wrote:

I currently use pyvenv directly, but I agree with starting a migration to only supporting the more explicit "python -m venv". There's always an inherent ambiguity on *nix with unqualified version sensitive Python commands as to whether they're referring to Python 2 or 3, as the answer often depends on how old the particular script is (e.g. pip and virtualenv relate to the Python 2 installation, while pyvenv relates to the Python 3 installation).

On Debian, we often use things like -2 or -3 suffixes, but there's no naming standard, and you inevitably get to monstrosities like nose2-3. ;) For scripts which have to be Python-version specific, the slight loss of usability for python -m blah outweighs the ambiguity and ugliness of the direct alternative.

There's one slightly oddity in the migration, which is that "pyvenv" will still run even if you're in an activated Python 2 virtual environment, while "python -m venv" fails. The answer is to use a qualified Python version in the latter call.

One thing that came up in a similar discussion is pip, and the suggested move to python -m pip, which makes a lot of sense. However, inside a virtualenv, there's no ambiguity about the Python version associated with direct pip invocation, so it still makes sense to install that there.

Cheers, -Barry -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 819 bytes Desc: OpenPGP digital signature URL: <http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/attachments/20150918/4ad339e0/attachment.sig>

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