[Python-Dev] docs.python.org pointing to Python 3 by default?

[Guido van Rossum]

On Sun, May 20, 2012 at 10:47 PM, Terry Reedy <tjreedy at udel.edu> wrote:
> On 5/21/2012 12:28 AM, Nick Coghlan wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 11:23 AM, Guido van Rossum<guido at python.org>
>>  wrote:
>>>
>>> I suggest that we add a separate (virtual) subdomain, e.g.
>>> docs3.python.org.
>
>
> I was about to post the exact same idea.
>
> docs.python.org/py3k is a bit obscure and buried and makes Python 3.x look a
> bit like a second-class citizen on the site. It has previously been our
> policy that each new production-ready release takes 'pride of place' at
> docs.python.org. Not doing so even with 3.3, *and doing nothing else*, could
> be taken as implying that we lack full confidence in the release.
>
> On the other hand, I am sympathetic to Raymond's and Nick's points that
> switching might seem too much 'in their faces' for Py 2 users, especially
> those who do not have or use an offline help file as their everyday
> reference. I want Python 3 to get equal billing, but not to generate
> reaction against it.
>
> I also suggest docs2.python.org as the permanent home for latest python 2
> docs for as long as it seems sensible (probably a decade at least). Make
> that operable now and suggest on the front page of docs.python.org that py2
> users switch before 3.4.
>
>
>> Rather than a new subdomain, I'd prefer to see a discreet
>> "documentation version" CSS widget, similar to that used in the Django
>> docs (see https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.4/) that indicated the
>> current displayed version and provided quick links to the 2.7 docs,
>> the stable 3.x docs and the development docs.
>
>
> Each page of our docs say "Python 3.3.0a3 Documentation", or the equivalent,
> at the top. So we already have that covered. The drop-down version selection
> box on the django page seems to only apply to searches. Merely selecting a
> different version does not trigger anything.
>
> What might be useful is to have the 'Other versions' links on the left
> margin of *every* page, not just the front page, but have them link to the
> corresponding page of the other docs (if there is one, and non-trivial I
> expect). For someone trying to write combined 2/3 code, or merely to learn
> the other version, I would think it useful to be able to jump to the
> corresponding page for the other version.

Right. I don't think new subdomains and the improvements that Nick
suggests are incompatible. docs2 and docs3 can just redirect to to
docs/<some version>. It's just that docs2 and docs3 make it easier to
type or link to the (super-major) version you care about. (docs2
should be an alias for 2.7; docs3 for the latest released 3.x
version.)

-- 
--Guido van Rossum (python.org/~guido)