On 11/26/2012 10:41 PM, Eric S. Raymond wrote:
> The next things on my git to-do list are
> [...]
> 2. Submit a doc patch containing guidelines that (a) Python scripts should
> check for their floor version and error out gracefully if they won't
> run with the host's interpreter, and (b) Python scripts sbould be
> 2.6-compatible.
OK, now let's discuss *which* minimum Python version that git should
support in the hypothetical new world...
Data point: Mercurial supports Python 2.4 - 2.7 with the following
explanation [1]:
We will continue to support Python 2.4 as long as it doesn't
present a significant barrier to development. Given that Python 2.5
and later don't contain any features that we're dying to use, that
may be a long time off. [...]
We also will continue to support Python 2.x as long as there is a
significant installed base in the form of Red Hat Enterprise Linux
and Ubuntu LTS users. RHEL 5, which uses Python 2.4, will reach the
end of the "production 2" portion of its lifecycle in Q1 2014 and
the end of its regular lifecycle in 2017.
It would be a shame to leave RHEL 5 users behind if Python is used to
implement important git functionality. Python 2.4 is missing some of
Python's shiny new features, but still quite OK. What features would
you miss the most if we were to target Python 2.4 instead of 2.6?
Michael
[1] http://mercurial.selenic.com/wiki/SupportedPythonVersions
--
Michael Haggerty
mhagger@xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://softwareswirl.blogspot.com/
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