[Python-ideas] Make py.exe default to Python 3

[Alexander Walters]

How about the better option: No default preset default..  Make the user 
pick every time it's installed.

Or the best option of them all: call Python 3... python3.exe and the 
shell launcher  py3.exe.

Or stop it with the launcher.

I cannot think of many situations where a non-technical user would 
install the base python, and run modules.  Most user applications ship 
their own interpreter.  In enterprise situations, you would want WAY 
more control of what python you are using than py.exe offers.

So who is py.exe for?

So i am changing my -1 from changing the default behavior to -1 for its 
continued existence.

On 3/8/2016 17:18, Paul Moore wrote:
> On 8 March 2016 at 22:00, Steve Dower <steve.dower at python.org> wrote:
>> "First installed" is a very difficult proposition, especially if you want
>> versions of Python pre-3.6 to participate. "Last installed" is slightly
>> better, though not easy to do without triggering systems that detect
>> corrupted installations.
> Also, any dependency on installation order gets *very* messy if
> someone installs and uninstalls various versions. What does the
> default become if I uninstall the version that was previously the
> first (or last) installed? Would we need to keep details of precisely
> when everything was installed?
>
>> Personally I think "latest version" is the best default (compared to the
>> current "latest 2.x version"), so I'm +1 on removing the assumption that
>> "PY_PYTHON" is "2" by default.
> Latest version has the additional advantage of being essentially the
> current behaviour, just with the special case of "but prefer Python 2
> over Python 3 if both are present" removed. (Note that technically the
> current rule is not simply "latest 2.x version", as if the user only
> has Python 3 installed, the latest 3.x version is used).
>
> The only other option I can think of is "use the one the user selected
> as the default Python (i.e., introspect the association for ".py"
> files) but even then we need a default default (!) for people who
> don't select any default Python. It's also messy to implement. And
> it's a bigger change from current behaviour.
>
>> Users can change their own default with any of the mechanisms described at
>> https://docs.python.org/3/using/windows.html#customization
> Absolutely. This should *only* apply when there is no user
> customisation - and it needs no further configurability, because the
> current methods are perfectly sufficient.
>
> Paul
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