[Python-ideas] Introducing PEP 434 -- IDLE Enhancement Exception for All Branches

[Terry Reedy]

On 2/21/2013 4:21 AM, Antoine Pitrou wrote:
> Le Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:45:04 -0600,
> serwy <roger.serwy at gmail.com> a écrit :
>>
>> I am the developer of the IdleX project
>> (http://idlex.sourceforge.net). It's not a fork of IDLE, but just a
>> collection of extensions that can be easily merged into IDLE.
>>
>> I started the project because of the slow pace of IDLE development,
>> especially when having several outstanding patches languishing in the
>> bug tracker. With your help I'd like to push IDLE forward.

> I guess it's a good idea to try and merge improvements into IDLE, but
> IDLE developers such as Terry would be in a better position to answer.

The pace of reviewing and applying patches to the default branch is a 
functions of people's time. I admit that I have been slower than I would 
like to be. This PEP is strictly about the question of which patches 
applied to tip should also be applied to older branches. A clearer 
answer, whatever it is, will help me, at least, to get more done.

If some enhancements are backported to bug-fix releases, they may appear 
in the wild sooner. On the other hand, not backporting might mean that 
more total patches get applied to default before the next release. On 
the third hand, it can be easier to get a patch widely tested on 
existing releases than on newly built default. (This is true on Windows 
where _tkinter is not compiled without considerable extra work.)

-- 
Terry Jan Reedy