[Python-Dev] Python-3 transition in Arch Linux

["Martin v. Löwis"]

> To clarify (but I dont speak for the rest of #python, just myself), I
> think the move was premature, but I don't use Arch and I don't know what
> typical Arch users expect. The reason I think it's premature is that
> 'python2' just doesn't work everywhere, and I would have gone for a
> transitionary period where '/usr/bin/python' is something that screams
> loudly that it shouldn't be used before it executes 'python2'.

I really do think the key point here is "don't know what typical
Arch users expect". I don't know either, but my personal feeling is that
Arch isn't that widely used, but ISTM that Arch users are expected to be
technically advanced, compared to the wider community of Linux users.

So if these user find a problem, they might know how to fix it, and they
might know how to make bug reports. In essence, you are asking that
there should be a smoother path to making /usr/bin/python Python 3 - and
I observe that Arch's switching actually is a very useful step on that
smoother path. If they figure out what changes to make, many of the
changes may have been done when other Linux distributions just start to
consider the change.

> As for #python, well, we got this storm of people utterly confused about
> how their stuff doesn't work anymore, and putting the blame in the wrong
> place. I don't think a distribution should ever cause that (even though
> many do in lesser ways) -- but as I said, I don't use Arch so maybe I
> don't understand the purpose of it. The complaints seem to have died
> down now (though possibly because of the 'no arch' topic :)

So apparently, there is quite a number of Arch users, and they do make
bug reports. Good :-)

If this gets attributed correctly (i.e. as a deliberate decision by
Arch, revealing bugs in many packages that have long existed), and if
Google picks the canonical resolution quickly, I don't think any harm
is done - and in the long run, it will smooth the migration for
everybody else.

Regards,
Martin