Released: Python 2.6.9 release candidate 1

[Barry Warsaw]

Hello Pythoneers and Pythonistas,

I'm happy to announce the availability of Python 2.6.9 release candidate 1.

Python 2.6.9rc1 is a security-fix source-only release for Python 2.6.  This
means that general bug maintenance has ended, and only critical security
issues are being fixed.  It also means that no installers for Windows or Mac
OS X will be provided.  The last binary release of Python 2.6 was 2.6.6.

Python 2.6.9 final is currently scheduled for Monday, October 28, 2013.  Five
years after the original release of Python 2.6, the 2.6.9 final release will
be the last release of the Python 2.6 series.  After this, all official
maintenance of any kind for Python 2.6 will cease and the series will be
retired.

For ongoing maintenance, please see Python 2.7.

Since 2.6.9 will be the last Python 2.6 release ever, I ask that you please
download Python 2.6.9rc1, build it on your favorite platforms, and test it
with your favorite code.  You can report bugs to the Python bug tracker:

    http://bugs.python.org

The source can be download from:

    http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.9/

You can also see what's changed since Python 2.6.8:

    http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.9/NEWS.txt

Many thanks go out to the entire Python community for their contributions and
help in making Python 2.6.9 available, especially Jyrki Pulliainen for his
patch contributions.

Enjoy,
-Barry
(on behalf of the Python development community)