[Python-porting] Recommended Python version?

[R. David Murray]

On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:57:57 +0200, <jhamel at cyrus-computer.de> wrote:
>On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:49:38 +0200 "M.-A. Lemburg" <mal at egenix.com> wrote:
> > Depending on what you want to do with Python, it's probably best
> > to try to write software that works with both Python 2 and 3 -
> > especially if you are targeting a very diverse set of systems.
> >
> > For backporting from 3 to 2, there's a helper available
> > which may be useful: http://www.startcodon.com/wordpress/?cat=3D8
> >
> > Note that most recent Linux distributions do ship with Python3.
> 
> NO !
> Ubuntu Lucid Lynx  - preinstalled python 2.6.5 - and Lucid Lynx is a
> LTS version
> Gentoo -  preinstalled python 2.6.5
> Debian Lenny - python 2.5.2
> Fedora 13  - python 2.6.4

Python2 and Python3 can coexist.  Python3 is available *now* for almost
all Linux platforms, and is no harder to install on Windows than Python2
is.  (And since most significant Windows aps that use Python bundle it,
they don't have any install issue with using Python3 at all.)

> For all normal user of this systems is python 2.x installed, and not
> all user are Systemadmins.  A lot of user of my program for example
> are really normal linux user, use it for business !

More and more linux systems will start having Python3 installed out
of the box.  This is already happening, and that was Marc's point.
All Linux users can install software through their system's package
manager, and the package managers of all Linux systems are (or will
be soon) capable of installing a Python3 as a dependency.

> I try since over 2 and a half years to find a solution for my project,
> but there is no way to convert it.

Have you asked for help here?  (I'm new here, I really don't know)

> A lot of libs are 2.x and no normal PC with Linux has an installed
> python 3.x !! At Windows it looks not better !!

Well, if you have dependencies that have not ported yet, then that's
a different problem.  (BIND 10 doesn't have that problem.)  See above
for the rest.

> I hope really, that in some year a python version 3.x exists, that can
> execute both, 2.x and 3.x scripts.

This will not happen, but *you* can write your scripts so that they
can execute on either.

> The current situation is a mess, to much python 2.x scripts are in the
> world, and the only solution is a python version, that allow  to
> execute both !! I know all arguments, but there is a big diff between
> the wish to use python 3.x and the reality.

What are the issues that are blocking you from using Python3, other than
dependencies on libraries that haven't themselves been ported yet?

--
R. David Murray                                      www.bitdance.com