[Python-Dev] Should we move to replace re with regex?

["Martin v. Löwis"]

> I can't either, but ISTR hearing that from __future__ import was started
> with such an intent. 

No, not at all. The original intention was to enable features that would
definitely would be added, not just right now. Tim Peters always
objected to claims that future imports were talking about provisional
features.

> Politically, and from a marketing standpoint, it's easier to withdraw
> a feature you've given with a "Play with this, see if it works for
> you" warning.

We don't want to add features to Python that we may have to withdraw.
If there is doubt whether they should be added, they shouldn't be added.
If they do get added, we have to live with it (until, say, Python 4,
where bad features can be removed again).

Regards,
Martin