[Python-Dev] "Missing" 2.5 feature

[Tim Peters]

[Raymond]
>> FWIW, I think this patch should go in. The benefits are
>> obvious and real.

[Anthony Baxter]
> Yep. I'm going to check it in, unless someone else beats me to it in
> the next couple of hours before the b2 freeze.

I'll merge it from my branch right after I send this email.  It still
needs a NEWS blurb, which I'll write.

Thanks!  You made the right decision :-)

>> But, the imagined costs of a new feature during beta are illusory.

> This, I cannot agree with. The costs and risks of just continuing to
> add new features all through the release process are high. The
> chances of us releasing a broken Python increases dramatically. Then
> we have to do emergency bugfix releases. And I'm sorry, but the
> release process is not something that's zero work. Sure, it's zero
> work _for_ _you_ <wink>, but not for Martin, Fred and myself.

I agree.  For example, even here (i.e., a pure, simple "new feature"),
as I noted from the start, it's possible that my doc changes broke the
LaTeX somehow, and that would be disruptive.

>> In this case, practicality beats pedantry.

> I don't think trying to produce the most stable and bugfree Python
> possible could in _anyway_ be considered "pedantry", and it makes me
> quite grumpy to have it described in that way.

He meant that "no new features", while a useful guideline, can be
counterproductive if followed slavishly.

>> For the users, it is a net win if this goes in.

> In the case of this feature, that's true.

More to the point, at this stage in the release process this specific
little new feature carries almost no risk of loss for anyone.