[Python-3000] PEP 3108 and modules to be removed (current list)
Brett Cannon
brett at python.org
Fri Jan 5 21:14:27 CET 2007
OK, it seems like things have converged on a reasonable list of modules to
be removed. Here is the current list from the PEP (I cut out all
non-removal stuff for now so this can be a more focused thread).
I think the only module on the list to be removed that is contraversial is
getopt since some people don't want to convert their code over and at least
Laura Creighton has commented on my blog that optparse has some serious
shortcomings (see the comments on getopt on what they are).
If anyone objects to any of the modules, please speak up now so that we can
move on to discussing possible new packages and renaming now that PEP 8 has
been clarified.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Modules to Remove
=================
Guido pronounced that "silly old stuff" is to be deleted from the
stdlib for Py3K [#silly-old-stuff]_. This is open-ended on purpose.
Each module to be removed needs to have a justification as to why it
should no longer be distributed with Python. This can range from the
module being deprecated in Python 2.x to being for a platform that is
no longer widely used.
This section of the PEP lists the various modules to be removed. Each
subsection represents a different reason for modules to be
removed. Each module must have a specific justification on top of
being listed in a specific subsection so as to make sure only modules
that truly deserve to be removed are in fact removed.
When a reason mentions how long it has been since a module has been
"uniquely edited", it is in reference to how long it has been since a
checkin was done specifically for the module and not for a change that
applied universally across the entire stdlib. If an edit time is not
denoted as "unique" then it is the last time the file was edited,
period.
Previously deprecated
---------------------
Modules in this section have been deprecated at some point in the
Python 2.x release series but are currently still distributed with
Python. Deprecation information is gathered either from PEP 4 or the
Global Module Index [#pep-0004]_, [#module-index]_. Each module is
listed with the Python version of initial deprecation.
============== ==========
Module Deprecated
============== ==========
buildtools 2.3
cfmfile 2.4
gopherlib 2.5
macfs 2.3
md5 2.5
mimetools 2.3
MimeWriter 2.3
mimefy 2.3
multifile 2.3
posixfile 1.5
rfc822 2.3
rgbimg 2.5
sha 2.5
============== ==========
Platform-specific with minimal use
----------------------------------
Python supports many platforms, some of which are not widely held.
And on some of these platforms there are modules that have limited use
to people on those platforms. Because of their limited usefulness it
would be better to no longer burden the Python development team with
their maintenance.
* IRIX (which is no longer produced [#irix-retirement]_)
+ AL/al
- Provides sound support on Indy and Indigo workstations.
- Both workstations are no longer available.
- Code has not been uniquely edited in three years.
+ cd
- CD drive control for SGI systems.
- SGI no longer sells machines with IRIX on them.
- Code has not been uniquely edited in 14 years.
+ DEVICE/GL/gl/cgen/cgensuport
- OpenGL access.
- Has not been edited in at least eight years.
- Third-party libraries provide better support (PyOpenGL [#pyopengl]_).
+ FL/fl/flp
- Wrapper for the FORMS library [#irix-forms]_
- FORMS has not been edited in 12 years.
- Library is not widely used.
- First eight hits on Google are for Python docs for fl.
+ fm
- Wrapper to the IRIS Font Manager library.
- Only available on SGI machines which no longer come with IRIX.
+ imgfile
- Wrapper for SGI libimage library for imglib image files
(``.rgb`` files).
- Python Imaging Library provdes read-only support [#pil]_.
- Not uniquely edited in 13 years.
+ jpeg
- Wrapper for JPEG (de)compressor.
- Code not uniquely edited in nine years.
- Third-party libraries provide better support
(Python Imaging Library [#pil]_).
+ sv
- Wrapper for Indigo video card.
- Harware is no longer manufactured.
- Undocumented.
- Code not uniquely edited in 13 years.
* Solaris
+ SUNAUDIODEV/sunaudiodev
- Access to the sound card on Sun machines.
- Code not uniquely edited in over eight years.
* Mac
+ aetools/aepack/aetypes/MiniAEFrame
- OSA support is better through third-party modules.
* Appscript [#appscript]_.
- Hard-coded endianness which breaks on Intel Macs.
- Might need to rename if Carbon package dependent.
+ applesingle
- Undocumented.
- AppleSingle is a binary file format for A/UX.
- A/UX no longer distributed.
+ autoGIL
- Very bad model for using Python with the CFRunLoop.
- Rename to _autogil if needed by Carbon package.
+ Carbon.CF
- Half-heared attempt.
+ findertools
- No longer useful.
+ FrameWork
- Poorly documented.
- Not updated to support Carbon Events.
+ icopen
- Not needed on OS X.
- Meant to replace 'open' which is usually a bad thing to do.
+ videoreader
- No longer used.
+ W
- No longer distributed with Python.
Minimal usage
-------------
Some modules that are platform-independent have minimal usage. This
can be from how easy it is to implement the functionality from scratch
or because the audience for the code is small.
* audiodev
+ Undocumented.
+ Not edited in five years.
+ If removed sunaudio should go as well (also undocumented; not
edited in over seven years).
* imputil
+ Undocumented.
+ Never updated to support absolute imports.
* mutex
+ Easy to implement using a semaphore and a queue.
+ Cannot block on a lock attempt.
+ Not uniquely edited since its addition 15 years ago.
* repr
+ Controls output of the repr of objects.
+ String slicing and string interpolation can do similar work.
+ Used by pdb, but do not need to expose API.
* symtable/_symtable
+ Undocumented.
* toaiff
+ Undocumented.
+ Requires ``sox`` library to be installed on the system.
* user
+ Easily handled by allowing the application specify its own
module name, check for existence, and import if found.
* new
+ Just a rebinding of names from the 'types' module.
+ Can also call ``type`` built-in to get most types easily.
* pure
+ Written before Pure Atria was bought by Rational which was then
bought by IBM (in other words, very old).
Obsolete
--------
Becoming obsolete signifies that either another module in the stdlib
or a widely distributed third-party library provides a better solution
for what the module is meant for.
* Bastion/rexec
+ Restricted execution / security.
+ Turned off in Python 2.3.
+ Modules deemed unsafe.
* commands/popen2
+ subprocess module replaces them [#pep-0324]_.
* dl
+ ctypes provides better support for same functionality.
* fpformat
+ All functionality is supported by string interpolation.
* getopt
+ optparse provides better functionality.
+ But ...
- getopt is still widely used.
- optparse does not handle the issue of when people set
incompatible options very well.
- optparse does not allow option arguments to be optional.
* ihooks
+ Documented except for saying that module might be obsolete.
+ For use with rexec which has been turned off since Python 2.3.
* imageop
+ Better support by third-party libraries
(Python Imaging Library [#pil]_).
* linuxaudiodev
+ Replaced by ossaudiodev.
* stat
+ ``os.stat`` now returns a tuple with attributes.
+ Functions in the module should be made into methods for the object
returned by os.stat.
* statvfs
+ ``os.statvfs`` now returns a tuple with attributes.
* strop
+ Implements functions used by 'string' module that have now
become methods on the str type.
* thread
+ People should use 'threading' instead.
- Rename 'thread' to _thread.
- Deprecate dummy_thread.
* Rename to _mockthread.
* Change of name better reflects modules purpose.
+ Guido has previously supported the deprecation
[#thread-deprecation]_.
* timing
+ Use timeit or time.
+ Documentation says the module is obsolete [#timing-module]_.
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