[stdlib-sig] standardizing the deprecation policy (and hownoisy they are)

[Antoine Pitrou]

> Why is that relevant? Bzr and hg are not only for Python developers,
> they can just as well be used for other code or even configuration
> files.

It is relevant because developers (of Python or not) should understand
that warning messages are a necessary evil in order to warn of a
potential pitfall.
In other words, there's no reason for a sensible developer to be angered
by the sight of warning messages when using a developer-oriented tool.
And, similarly, a system administrator editing configuration files knows
that warning messages exist for a reason.

> I know that I get annoyed by "random" messages from Java tools that I
> use, which doesn't help improve my opinion of that language.

Why does it impact your opinion of Java, rather than your opinion of the
developers who did nothing to fix the problem in their package?
(of course, the deprecation themselves are perhaps mistaken, see
Marc-André's message about that)

As the user of a Python package, don't you want to know that your
current version of a package may break when you switch to Python N+1?
Do you prefer the pleasant surprise of discovering it after the fact?

Regards

Antoine.