[Python-Dev] Re: Patch level versions and new features (Was: Some dull gc stats)

[Barry A. Warsaw]

>>>>> "MAL" == M  <mal@lemburg.com> writes:

    MAL> Adding the argument would only help applications which would
    MAL> make use of it. An application written for Python 2.2
    MAL> couldn't do this since the optional argument wouldn't be
    MAL> available.

Ok, here's another question.  When I updated the email package in
Python 2.3, Guido wanted me to backport it to Python 2.2.x.  I did
that once, but there's been a lot of changes since then, both bug
fixes, API "fixes", and new functionality.

The email package can be installed separately as a distutils package,
and it is compatible all the way back to Python 2.1.x.  Which means
someone /could/ install the latest version in their site-packages and
have the new functionality in any of the last 3 versions of Python,
although it would be tricky for Python 2.2.1.

So does it make sense to backport the latest email package to Python
2.2.2?  That's what Guido wanted, and I could argue that doing so
improves stability of that branch, because while it adds a lot of new
stuff, the old stuff was fairly well broken.  E.g. you can't properly
encode RFC 2047 headers in Python 2.2.1's email package.  Backporting
allows application writers to fix their code so that it works
compatibly and correctly across more versions of Python than if we
didn't backport.  It also makes no sense to maintain two different
code bases (especially now that that's been reduced from 3! :).

OTOH, it definitely adds new features.  Maybe email is special because
it was so new in Python 2.2, and so I took a more naive approach to
some issues that a wider use uncovered.

it-ain't-always-simple-ly y'rs,
-Barry