[Python-Dev] Moving the developer docs?

[Georg Brandl]

Am 23.09.2010 16:41, schrieb Barry Warsaw:
> On Sep 23, 2010, at 09:06 AM, Benjamin Peterson wrote:
> 
>>Are any of our docs subject to release schedules?
> 
> I guess what I'm concerned about is this scenario:
> 
> You're a developer who has the source code to Python 3.1.  You read the
> in-tree docs to get a sense of how our development process works.  Now, you're
> a diligent and eager new contributor so you follow those instructions to the
> letter.  Unfortunately, Python 3.5 is the current version and we've changed
> key parts of the process.  There's no possible way that your 3.1 in-tree docs
> can be updated to reflect the new process.

That's a pity, of course; however the small amount of bug reports we get that
reflects content in old (= unsupported) library documentation suggests that it
would not be a problem in practice:  Most people look at docs.python.org anyway.

> Okay, we can tell you to get the Python 3.5 code, or probably better yet, the
> Python 3.6 in-development trunk, but now we've got another dilemma.  If we
> change the process in 3.6, there will be pressure to update the docs in 3.5
> and previous versions that are still officially maintained.  And what about
> security-only versions of Python?

Well, with Mercurial we're supposed to check in all changes to the oldest
branch they apply to.  If everyone changing the dev docs keeps to that, all
supported versions will have up-to-date docs.

Georg

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