[Python-Dev] asyncore fixes in Python 2.6 broke Zope's version of medusa

[Bill Janssen]

Guido van Rossum <guido at python.org> wrote:

> On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 10:51 AM, Jean-Paul Calderone <exarkun at divmod.com> wrote:
> > On Wed, 4 Mar 2009 10:46:28 -0800, Guido van Rossum <guido at python.org>
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 10:27 AM, Jean-Paul Calderone <exarkun at divmod.com>
> >> wrote:
> >> [snip]
> >>>
> >>> So, as a disinterested party in this specific case, I'd say revert to
> >>> the pre-2.6 behavior.  It does less harm than leaving the current
> >>> behavior.
> >>
> >> Sorry, but I really do think that we should maintain backward
> >> compatibility *within* the 2.6 series as well. If that makes it
> >> impossible to also maintain the 2.5 behavior, perhaps some flag could
> >> be added to restore 2.5 compatibility, e.g.
> >>
> >> import asyncore
> >> asyncore.python_25_compat = True
> >>
> >> Note that this "API" is designed to work in 2.5 as well. :-)
> 
> > But why?  The argument I made had the objective of minimizing developer
> > effort.  What's the objective of maintaining backward compatibility within
> > the 2.6 series in this case (sorry if it appeared earlier in this thread
> > and I missed it)?
> 
> The same as always. We don't change APIs in bugfix releases.

OK, seems reasonable.

But in this case, isn't the broken API the bug that's being fixed?  Do
we need a different way to fix broken APIs in bugfix releases?

Bill