[Numpy-discussion] Proposal of timeline for dropping Python 2.7 support

[Charles R Harris]

On Thu, Nov 9, 2017 at 6:52 PM, Nathaniel Smith <njs at pobox.com> wrote:

> Fortunately we can wait until we're a bit closer before we have to
> make any final decision on the version numbering :-)
>
> Right now though it would be good to start communicating to
> users/downstreams about whatever our plans our though, so they can
> make plans. Here's a first attempt at some text we can put in the
> documentation and point people to -- any thoughts, on either the plan
> or the wording?
>
> ---- DRAFT TEXT - NOT FINAL - DO NOT POST THIS TO HACKERNEWS OK? OK ----
>
> The Python core team plans to stop supporting Python 2 in 2020. The
> NumPy project has supported both Python 2 and Python 3 in parallel
> since 2010, and has found that supporting Python 2 is an increasing
> burden on our limited resources; thus, we plan to eventually drop
> Python 2 support as well. Now that we're entering the final years of
> community-supported Python 2, the NumPy project wants to clarify our
> plans, with the goal of to helping our downstream ecosystem make plans
> and accomplish the transition with as little disruption as possible.
>
> Our current plan is as follows:
>
> Until **December 31, 2018**, all NumPy releases will fully support
> both Python 2 and Python 3.
>
> Starting on **January 1, 2019**, any new feature releases will support
> only Python 3.
>
> The last Python-2-supporting release will be designated as a long-term
> support (LTS) release, meaning that we will continue to merge
> bug-fixes and make bug-fix releases for a longer period than usual.
> Specifically, it will be supported by the community until **December
> 31, 2019**.
>
> On **January 1, 2020** we will raise a toast to Python 2, and
> community support for the last Python-2-supporting release will come
> to an end. However, it will continue to be available on PyPI
> indefinitely, and if any commercial vendors wish to extend the LTS
> support past this point then we are open to letting them use the LTS
> branch in the official NumPy repository to coordinate that.
>
> If you are a NumPy user who requires ongoing Python 2 support in 2020
> or later, then please contact your vendor. If you are a vendor who
> wishes to continue to support NumPy on Python 2 in 2020+, please get
> in touch; ideally we'd like you to get involved in maintaining the LTS
> before it actually hits end-of-life, so we can make a clean handoff.
>
> To minimize disruption, running 'pip install numpy' on Python 2 will
> continue to give the last working release in perpetuity; but after
> January 1, 2019 it may not contain the latest features, and after
> January 1, 2020 it may not contain the latest bug fixes.
>
> For more information on the scientific Python ecosystem's transition
> to Python-3-only, see: http://www.python3statement.org/
>
> For more information on porting your code to run on Python 3, see:
> https://docs.python.org/3/howto/pyporting.html
>
> ----
>
> Thoughts?
>
> -n
>

I've put up an NEP <https://github.com/numpy/numpy/pull/10006> for the
proposal.

<snip>

Chuck
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