[Python-Dev] PEP 394 request for pronouncement (python2 symlink in *nix systems)

Nick Coghlan ncoghlan at gmail.com
Wed Feb 15 01:14:35 CET 2012


On Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 12:44 AM, Barry Warsaw <barry at python.org> wrote:
> On Feb 14, 2012, at 12:38 PM, Nick Coghlan wrote:
>
>>> One other thing I'd like to see the PEP address is a possible migration
>>> strategy to python->python3.  Even if that strategy is "don't do it, man!".
>>> IOW, can a distribution change the 'python' symlink once it's pointed to
>>> python2?  What is the criteria for that?  Is it up to a distribution?  Will
>>> the PEP get updated when our collective wisdom says its time to change the
>>> default?  etc.
>>
>>I have no idea, and I'm not going to open that can of worms for this
>>PEP. We need to say something about the executable aliases so that
>>people can eventually write cross-platform python2 shebang lines, but
>>how particular distros actually manage the transition is going to
>>depend more on their infrastructure and community than it is anything
>>to do with us.
>
> Then I think all the PEP needs to say is that it is explicitly up to the
> distros to determine if, when, where, and how they transition.  I.e. take it
> off of python-dev's plate.

Yeah, good idea.

I'll also add an explicit link to the announcement of the Arch Linux
transition [1] that precipitated this PEP.

[1] https://www.archlinux.org/news/python-is-now-python-3/

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia


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