Python 2 EOL; what about P2 packages

[Chris Angelico]

On Mon, May 13, 2019 at 12:41 AM GerritM <gerrit.muller at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I had missed the End-of-Life announcement of Python 2 for 2020. When installing a missing package on my new laptop, pip did warn me about this upcoming event.
>
> I have been reading up on the conversion. Unfortunately, I can find no information yet on coping with Python 2 only packages. So far, I identified that I am using at least 2 packages that are Python 2 only:
> + HTMLgen (the old original version that has been an orphan for decades; simple but effective)
> + eGenix (excellent package with a.o. MxDateTime; I can only find a sprint attempt to convert t to Python 3)
>
> Any suggestions how to port to Python 3, when using Python 2 only packages?
>
> Although the websites state that we can keep using Python 2 after maintenance stops, this may in practice not be the case. Any time that we need to get a new laptop operational, we need a way to install it. E.g. pip should stay working...
>

At some point, you may have to make a choice between running
unmaintained software and migrating to something that is actually
being updated. Python 2.7 won't magically stop working just because
2020 rolls around; it simply won't be receiving any updates. So you
COULD just keep using it regardless. But to move to Py3, you're
probably going to have to find approximate equivalents to those two
packages, or else help those packages to migrate. I did a quick search
for "htmlgen python 3" and found a Red Hat bug report, but nothing
particularly helpful.

My recommendation: Look at your two Py2-only packages, and see whether
they're actively maintained. If they are, then their maintainers will
probably want to look at porting them (and you may be able to help
with that effort); if not, it's time to look for replacements.

ChrisA