[Python-Dev] Status of 2.7 and 3.2

[Terry Reedy]

2.7

Once upon a time, the plan was to come out with 2.6 and 3.0, and then 
after the usual interval, 2.7 and 3.1.  As it turned out, 3.0 came out 3 
months after 2.6, but, as it typical of x.0 releases, had some flaws 
leading to 3.1 now just 6 month later.

I have thought that 2.7 was now to come out instead with 3.2 and would 
include backported 3.2 new features.  Others expect 2.7 to come out soon 
after 3.1 and to only contain new 3.1 features.  So Guido or someone, 
please clarify: is 2.7 to be the counterpart of 3.1 or 3.2?

Data:
On the tracker, new features are being assigned to 2.7 and 3.2.
PEP 373 Python 2.7 Release Schedule says zilch:
Release Schedule: Not yet finalized
Possible features for 2.7: Nothing here


3.2

At some point, 3.x will become the "trunk" branch.  It seems to me that 
this should be done with 3.2 as part of the transition to Mercurial.

A. As long as 2.x is 'trunk', some people will view 3.x as 
'experimental'.  That was true for 3.0, but (much?) less so for 3.1.  Is 
there any known reason why 3.2 should not soon be considered and treated 
as the main development version, to become the main production version?

B. All new features will go into 3.2.  Only some will be backported to 
2.x.  So it seems that the flow should be to develop for 3.2 and maybe 
backport thereafter.


2.final

Is there any thought of making 2.7 be 2.final?

A. To my mind, the main reason to add features to 2.x is to make 
transition to 3.x easier, rather than to discourage transition to 3.x.

B. Do we really want to encourage library developers to put their 
'upgrade to a new version' energy into 2.x to 2.x+1 upgrades, rather 
than a 2.x to 3.y upgrades?

C. Some people are sticking with some version of 2.x because they want a 
stable version with minimal disturbance.  Such people might have 
preferred, for instance, getting 2.5.5 in April instead of the latest 
2.6 release.  Instead people 2.5 fixes are being told "Sorry. 2.5 is out 
of Maintenance phase and into SecurityFix only phase."  Once 2.x is put 
in feature freeze, micro bugfix releases can appear for years, as long 
as bugs are found and patches submitted and committed.  It should 
gradually become truly rock solid.


Terry Jan Reedy