Python milestone releases

[Thomas D'Tak]

Hi everybody!

Recently, I am having more and more problems with the fact that
my Python version is far ahead of the Python versions I have to
write scripts for (CGI servers, LAN servers & clients etc. of
customers, ISPs etc.). Sometimes, these Python versions reach 
back to Python 2.0.

The question is now, how to handle this kind of problems?

I do not want to complain here that Python is developing too
fast; and I do not want to criticize Python's system of version
numbers. But I want to ask for resp. suggest something like
*official Python milestone releases*. (Please correct me if
something like that does already exist and I am just not aware
of it.)

Official Python milestone release statements should discourage
the use of older versions. Moreover, not each and every Python
release should be a milestone release (clearly).

Having milestone releases would make it easier to suggest to
customers, ISPs etc. to install a new Python version (the mile-
stone). Having milestones would put some pressure on them. (Well,
that sounds quite negative: 'pressure'; but I think you know what
I mean. Often, a server gets installed once and sees nothing
else but security updates after that; getting a new version of
a software package on such a server can be quite hard if you are
not the admin resp. are not allowed to install your own version 
of the software package.)

Another solution would be to stick to Python 2.0 forever -where
'forever' means the time span until the release of Python 3.0- 
(but I really do not like that idea :-)

Having milestones (not too often) would also simplify a lot of
other things; e.g. I would not have to study 'What's new in Python ...'
each and every time I have to write scripts for an older version
of Python. The 'older' version would simply be the last milestone
and I would have to know about two Python versions only: the milestone
and the most recent one.

How do you handle the above kind of problems resp. what do you think
about *official* Python milestones?

Thanks in advance for your answers! Th.