I'm eudaemonic to announce the immediate availability of Python 2.7.18.

Python 2.7.18 is a special release. I refer, of course, to the fact that "2.7.18" is the closest any Python version number will ever approximate e, Euler's number. Simply exquisite!

A less transcendent property of Python 2.7.18 is that it is the last Python 2.7 release and therefore the last Python 2 release. It's time for the CPython community to say a fond but firm farewell to Python 2. Users still on Python 2 can use e to compute the instantaneously compounding interest on their technical debt.

Download this unique, commemorative Python release on python.org:

   https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-2718/

Python 2.7 has been under active development since the release of Python 2.6, more than 11 years ago. Over all those years, CPython's core developers and contributors sedulously applied bug fixes to the 2.7 branch, no small task as the Python 2 and 3 branches diverged. There were large changes midway through Python 2.7's life such as PEP 466's feature backports to the ssl module and hash randomization. Traditionally, these features would never have been added to a branch in maintenance mode, but exceptions were made to keep Python 2 users secure. Thank you to CPython's community for such dedication.

Python 2.7 was lucky to have the services of two generations of binary builders and operating system experts, Martin von Löwis and Steve Dower for Windows, and Ronald Oussoren and Ned Deily for macOS. The reason we provided binary Python 2.7 releases for macOS 10.9, an operating system obsoleted by Apple 4 years ago, or why the "Microsoft Visual C++ Compiler for Python 2.7" exists is the dedication of these individuals.

I thank the past and present Python release managers, Barry Warsaw, Ned Deily, Georg Brandl, Larry Hastings, and Łukasz Langa for their advice and support over the years. I've learned a lot from them—like don't be the sucker who volunteers to manage the release right before a big compatibility break!

Python 3 would be nowhere without the critical work of the wider community. Library maintainers followed CPython by maintaining Python 2 support for many years but also threw their weight behind the Python 3 statement (https://python3statement.org). Linux distributors chased Python 2 out of their archives. Users migrated hundreds of millions of lines of code, developed porting guides, and kept Python 2 in their brain while Python 3 gained 10 years of improvements.

Finally, thank you to GvR for creating Python 0.9, 1, 2, and 3.

Long live Python 3+!

Signing off,
Benjamin
2.7 release manager
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