[Python-Dev] Some dull gc stats

Tim Peters tim@zope.com
Tue, 2 Jul 2002 19:06:06 -0400


[MaL, replying to me, but presumably bonding with Martin again <wink>]
> Patch level releases should *never* include new features (unless
> these are essential to fix a serious bug or a simple byproduct
> of a fix). I don't know where you got the impression that Python
> should move back to the 1.5 branch development process where patch
> levels added new features.

The pre-PBF Patch Czars generally took a hard "no new features!" stance, but
it seems to be up in the air now.

> W/r to the PBF: at EuroPython we did a poll to see which version
> to base the PBF's activities on. The result was that a majority
> voted for Python 2.2 as first target.

Cool!  Good choice.

> Patch levels are there to stabilize a release, not make it
> more powerful.

This is one popular view, although there's plenty of wiggle room in what
"stabilize" means (e.g., is it "stabilizing" to port Python to a new
platform?  to speed a bottleneck?  to add a new encoding?  etc).