[Python-Dev] deprecated platforms

[Steven D. Majewski]

Jack asked me about:

https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=420601&group_id=5470&atid=105470

which concerns removing the support for --with-next-framework from 
the build procedure. 

I'm all for removing it: 
 it's broken for OSX,
 if it worked, it doesn't do the whole job ( I think framework 
   support should eventually be added for OSX with a separate
   post-build script -- a real framework should encapsulate 
   all of the python libs, docs and headers files in one bundle. ) 
 nobody seems to know if it still works on Next or OpenStep.

 However, I said I thought there ought to be some sort of official
procedure for removing platform support. 
 
 This doesn't seem to be addressed in either PEP 4 (Deprecation
of Standard Modules) or PEP 5 (Guidelines for Language Evolution).

 I don't think it needs to be as involved a process as PEP 4 or 5 --
it's a more reversable decision than removing a feature from the
language.  Although, removing a platform dependent feature -- 
like in the long discussion about case sensitivity -- may be a 
bigger deal. 
 But I'm really thinking more about things like the Next case -- 
where there are build options and #ifdefs that, as far as we know,
haven't been tested in several versions. ( Believe it or not, there
are still folks hanging dearly onto their black NeXT cubes, and finding
the useful -- but I have no idea if any of them are using Python, 
and there's lots of users out there whom we only hear from when they
discover a problem. ) 

 Perhaps there should be some sort of "Last Call for Platform Saviour" :
if nobody steps forward who is willing to do test builds on that 
platform, support may be removed if maintaining it is getting in the way. 
 

 Any thougts or opinions on this? 

 Are there any other platforms where this might become an issue ? 
 If this looks like it's unlikely to crop up again, then maybe we
  don't need to bother with a 'policy'. 

 What about support for particular compilers and build environments: 
 (Borland C on Windows and MPW on Mac are two examples of "minority" 
   compilers.) 


BTW: As I've though more about this particular issue (--with-next-framework) 
 I don't think it's as big an issue -- removing that switch isn't going
 to break the build entirely (I think!). Pulling out all of the 
 #ifdefs for Next would be a larger issue, but that hasn't been proposed
 (yet). If the consensus is that this isn't a big enough issue, in general,
 to need an official policy, then I vote to pull it out and see if anyone
 screams. 

 

-- Steve Majewski