ANNOUNCE: A *second* Python 2.1 release candidate!

[Don Tuttle]

> [Guido]
> > We found and fixed a rare but serious bug in the dictionary code, and
> > fixed enough small nits to warrant a second release candidate for
> > Python 2.1 -- the final release is still planned for Tuesday, April
> > 17.
>
> [Don Tuttle]
> > Perhaps I'm dense, but how do you expect any signifgant field
> > testing to take place in just 4 days, especially when Easter,
> > Passover, and US taxes are going on at the same time?
>
[Tim Peters]
> There won't be massive testing done on the release candidate for (among
> others) the reasons you gave.  But the planned 2.1 release date was
announced
> 6 months ago (on 16-Oct-2000), and has been on public display in PEP 226
> since then.

Reading PEP 226, it only sets April 17 as a tenative release date.  There is
no mention of when any betas or release canditates should be released.  No
mention of only 4 days for a final test.

[Tim Peters]
>2.1c2 is the sixth(!) 2.1 pre-release we've made, starting in
> January:  if massive testing hasn't occurred over that stretch of time, it
> never will (like all other things Pythonic, prerelease testing is a
volunteer
> activity, and the mere passage of time doesn't significantly increase the
> number of test volunteers).
>
> With the exception of an excruciatingly subtle and rare pre-existing bug
> discovered in 2.1c1 and fixed this weekend (significant? yes! there goes
your
> theory <wink>),

Depends.  Are you implying that after just 2 of the 4 additional days of
testing, Python 2.1 can now be certified 100% bug free? <wink>

[Tim Peters]
>2.1 bugs reported for some time now have been shallow and
> mostly platform-specific, and mostly on minority platforms.  In the
absence
> of any reason to believe people who've put off testing since January are
> going to change their minds now, the point of the quick prerelease is
mostly
> to ensure that no *new* platform-specific glitch snuck in with the last
round
> of minor tweaks.

Did you get at least one tester on every platform to commit to testing RC1
during this 4day period?  If not, it seems rather presumptive that your
objectives will be met by simply posting it over a very busy holiday
weekend!

[Tim Peters]
> BTW, I expect 2.1 is the best-tested release in Python's history, thanks
to
> the many people who downloaded one of the prereleases and gave it a shot.
If
> you're one of them, thanks!  If not, I don't buy that it's because you've
> been waiting since January to get Easter, Passover and taxes out of the
way
> <wink>.

As a rule I try to keep beta software off my servers.  It will be at least a
month or two before they see Python 2.1.

Worried-about-keeping-Python-clean-and-pure-ly y'rs - Don