[tahoe-lafs-trac-stream] [tahoe-lafs] #1658: drop support for Python < 2.6

[tahoe-lafs]

#1658: drop support for Python < 2.6
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     Reporter:  zooko      |      Owner:  somebody
         Type:  defect     |     Status:  new
     Priority:  major      |  Milestone:  1.10.0
    Component:  packaging  |    Version:  1.9.0
   Resolution:             |   Keywords:  packaging backward-compatibility
Launchpad Bug:             |
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Comment (by gdt):

 distrowatch is confused; NetBSD simply does not include python (at all,
 and never has).   In NetBSD culture, one use pkgsrc to get extras from
 among the 6000 or so other things that are not part of the operating
 system and are in pkgsrc.   FreeBSD is basically the same way, except I
 can't speak as authoritatively about it.

 On NetBSD, one basically needs a version of pkgsrc (stable ones are
 released quarterly) that supports the version of the OS one is running
 (meaning that most packages will build on that OS version), and then it's
 easy to use whatever is in that pkgsrc version.  So people on NetBSD can
 have python 2.6 or 2.7 very easily, and 2.6 is what's been normal for a
 while.  In NetBSD, at least the stable branch of the last two releases are
 generally supported by pkgsrc.   6.0 isn't out, so anyone with 4.0, 5.0,
 5.1. etc. will be able to have python 2.6 or 2.7 without difficulty, from
 the current 2011Q4 stable branch, or the April 2012Q1 branch.

 But, the notion that "NetBSD 4.0 has python 2.5.2" is confused.   What
 they might mean is that a stable version of pkgsrc associated in time with
 the release of NetBSD 4.0 had python 2.5.2, but that doesn't matter now.

 On FreeBSD, I believe the culture is that one upgrades from 7.x to 7.x+1
 quite easily, and you're running old/not-really-maintained-code if you
 don't.  So sure, people need to build python, but that's done
 automatically when building tha tahoe-lafs port (which either does exist
 or ought to).

 Also, on FreeBSD (or Dragonfly, OpenBSD, Mac, Linux, Solaris, AIX, etc)
 one can use pkgsrc.

 I suspect the problem is that distrowatch either doesn't get it that all
 the world does not work like GNU/Linux, or is trying to map the world into
 that model.

 But all in all, my belief is that dropping 2.5 is a non-event for the BSD
 world.

 I haven't updated the table, because I don't think it makes sense for
 other than Linux-style distributions and I don't know how to do it
 sensibly.  There's no Windows row, which would have the same issues, as
 Windows doesn't include python either.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1658#comment:11>
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