[RELEASE] Python 2.7.18 release candidate 1

[Benjamin Peterson]

Greetings,
2.7.18 release candidate 1, a testing release for the last release of the Python 2.7 series, is now available for download. The CPython core developers stopped applying routine bugfixes to the 2.7 branch on January 1. 2.7.18 will includes fixes that were made between the release of 2.7.17 and the end of 2019. A final—very final!—release is expected in 2 weeks.

Downloads are at:

   https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-2718rc1/

The full changelog is at

   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/python/cpython/v2.7.18rc1/Misc/NEWS.d/2.7.18rc1.rst

Test it out, and let us know if there are any critical problems at

    https://bugs.python.org/

(This is the last chance!)

All the best,
Benjamin