[Python-Dev] Another update for PEP 394 -- The "python" Command on Unix-Like Systems

[Antoine Pitrou]

On Wed, 13 Feb 2019 17:32:44 -0800
Nathaniel Smith <njs at pobox.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 13, 2019 at 3:02 PM Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info> wrote:
> >
> > On Wed, Feb 13, 2019 at 05:16:54PM -0500, Terry Reedy wrote:
> >  
> > > It appears python is already python3 for a large majority of human users
> > > (as opposed to machines).
> > >
> > > https://www.jetbrains.com/research/python-developers-survey-2018/
> > > Nearly 20000 valid responses, Oct-Nov.  
> >
> > They may be valid responses, but we don't know if they are
> > representative of the broader Python community. Its a self-selected
> > survey of people which always makes the results statistically suspect.
> >
> > (By definition, an Internet survey eliminates responses from people who
> > don't fill out surveys on the Internet.)
> >
> > BUt even if representative, this survey only tells us what version
> > people are using, now how they invoke it. We can't conclude that the
> > command "python" means Python 3 for these users. We simply don't know
> > one way or another (and I personally wouldn't want to hazard a guess.)  
> 
> Can we gather data? What if pip started reporting info on how it was
> run when contacting pypi?

The most important information pip should report is whether it's
running on a CI platform (should be doable by looking at a few
environment variables, at least for the most popular platforms).
Currently nobody knows what the PyPI download stats mean, because they
could be 99% human or 99% CI.

Regards

Antoine.