The Incredible Growth of Python (stackoverflow.blog)

[Leam Hall]

On 09/12/2017 08:28 AM, Steve D'Aprano wrote:
> On Tue, 12 Sep 2017 09:20 pm, Leam Hall wrote:
> 
>> But if someone comes onto the list, or IRC, and says they need to stay
>> on Python 2 then please drop the dozens of e-mails and comments about
>> upgrading.
> [...]
>> My recent experience with some people's inability to take "Sorry, I
>> can't" for an answer has been a real turn-off. I have requirements that
>> dictate Python. If this was a personal venture I'd already be elsewhere
>> purely because the Python community on the list and IRC is so unwelcoming.
> 
> Leam, I've defended people choosing to remain on older versions of Python, even
> as old as 1.5. The most recent was just a couple of minutes ago, in my response
> to Chris. It's not nice or friendly of you to tar the entire community with a
> reputation because of one or two people saying something you don't want to
> debate.
> 
> But it isn't all about you. Just because you started this thread -- oh wait, you
> didn't *wink* -- doesn't mean you control its direction. If people want to
> discuss the pros and cons of upgrading, without specifically badgering you, you
> should remember that *it isn't about you* and don't take it personally.

WHAT?!?!?!  It isn't all about me?  Dang...

Steve, you're right; sorry for painting with such a broad brush. Even 
the people who occasionally post something that seems problematic (to 
me) are usually helpful.

A few months ago my manager asked about what direction I recommended for 
the team. I'm the opinionated old guy who is new to this team. At the 
time I was really enjoying Ruby; just so dang fun!

I told my manager that we should use python. It is the best choice for 
the team since we're on RHEL 6. Ruby wasn't on the machines but Python 
2.6.6 is. Any code I write that is python 2.6.6 compatible should run on 
every machine.

My answer meant I had to re-direct personal time and attention so I 
could help the team move forward. There are certain things I can do; 
learn to code better, write more tests, and figure out OOP. Some things 
I can't do; changing the supported python version is on that list.

Python is the right choice for a lot of use cases. Python 3 is the right 
choice for a large sub-set of those use cases. Python 2 is the best 
choice for a much smaller subset.