----- Original Message -----
On Mar 13, 2015, at 09:57 PM, Nick Coghlan wrote:
Right, this most recently came up in the context of Fedora's plans to transition to only having Python 3 in the base install (https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/Python_3_as_Default). At the moment the expected consequence is that there will come a Fedora version (tentatively Fedora 23) where, out of the box, "/usr/bin/python" and "/usr/bin/env python" will just stop working.
Packages that are part of the distro aren't a problem - those are all being dealt with as the transition progresses, and any which specifically need Python 2 will depend on it accordingly.
The problem arises with custom user packages and scripts, and third party packages and scripts.
Sure, agreed so far. But you're not going to be removing Python 2 from the Fedora archive right? So any user with third party packages that require Python 2 could just install it and their stuff would continue to work.
Correct.
At least that's the plan on Debian/Ubuntu. I'd like to be at the point[*] where the default installs would not contain Python 2, but a simple `apt-get` would install it from the archives for anybody who needs it. That seems like a safer option than changing the symlink.
Yes, this is precisely where we're heading with this; we won't change the symlink unless PEP 394 changes. We will also prefer Python 3 for *all* applications (assuming upstream is compatible), not only those that are on live media. I think we'll have Python 2 in Fedora repositories as long as upstream will support it (and maybe even a bit longer).
Cheers, -Barry
[*] I'm aiming for Debian Stretch and Ubuntu 16.04 Xylophonic X-ray fish LTS.
-- Regards, Slavek Kabrda