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

[Ronald Oussoren]

On 10 Nov, 2009, at 16:55, Antoine Pitrou wrote:

> 
>> 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.

That doesn't make warnings for code that I have no control over any less annoying.  And worse, DeprecationWarnings aren't even something that require immediate followup because nothing is broken.  It's not, "I installed Python 2.6 and now my tools no longer work", but "I installed Python 2.6 and am now getting useless crap when I run tools". 


> 
>> 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?

That's why I test before upgrading a production machine.  Running without DeprecationWarnings is not a perfect predicator for running on a future version of Python.

Furthermore, I get DeprecationWarnings the day I install Python N, even though Python N+1 is still a long time away (18 months on average).

Ronald
> 
> Regards
> 
> Antoine.
> 
> 
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