[Mailman-Developers] print >> sys.stderr does not compile

[Barry A. Warsaw]

>>>>> "TW" == Thomas Wouters <thomas@xs4all.net> writes:

    TW> The README clearly states what version of Python you need to
    TW> run Mailman.  It currently says:

    >> Mailman requires Python 2.0 or greater, which can be downloaded
    >> from [...]

Yup, I've announced that requirement long ago.  Python 2.0 has too
many great features (and bug fixes!) to ignore.

    TW> Future versions will probably require Python 2.1 ;)

I'm going to try to avoid that, if possible, especially since Python
2.1 isn't even in beta testing yet!

>>>>> "F" == Fil  <fil@rezo.net> writes:

    F> All right. But. I've installed python2 with Debian, and mailman
    F> does not know how to use it (Debian installs python2 as
    F> /usr/bin/python2, and /usr/bin/env python points to the
    F> python1x version.)

Two things.  You can use the --with-python configure option to choose
which Python executable gets compiled into the source.  Second, add a
symlink somewhere on your $PATH so that your shell finds
/usr/bin/python2 before wherever python1.x is installed.

>>>>> "F" == Fil  <fil@rezo.net> writes:

    F> The explanation is here; python2.0 does not have the right
    F> license for Debian. Consequence: mailman is currently not
    F> compatible with debian.

    F> http://lists.debian.org/debian-python-0102/msg00028.html

Two comments, which I'm not directing at the Debian folks because they
need to make their own decisions, and because I don't know who at
Debian to direct these to.

First, I don't buy the backwards compatibility argument.  Yes, some
code broke, but it was broken anyway (people using undocumented APIs).
The broken code is easily fixed.

Second, while the Python 1.6 license (which is included by value in
Python 2.0) is /technically/ incompatible with the GPL, it is in
spirit compatible.  The incompatibility really is a technicality of
the license language and not of philosophy, and I'm very confident
that an agreement between the FSF and CNRI will allow a release of
Python 1.6.1 (and hence Python 2.0.1) with this technicality erased.
Don't ask me about an ETA on that; if I had any influence over the
process at all, it would have happened a long time ago.  The FSF and
CNRI are like the proverbial rock and hard place, and we're the ones
stuck in the middle.

All that having been said, I specifically asked RMS if he had any
problems with me basing future Mailman releases on Python 2.0.  He
said he did not.

-Barry