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

[tahoe-lafs]

#1658: drop support for Python < 2.6
-------------------------+-------------------------------------------------
     Reporter:  zooko    |      Owner:  zooko
         Type:           |     Status:  closed
  enhancement            |  Milestone:  1.10.0
     Priority:  normal   |    Version:  1.9.0
    Component:           |   Keywords:  packaging backward-compatibility
  packaging              |  review-needed
   Resolution:  fixed    |
Launchpad Bug:           |
-------------------------+-------------------------------------------------
Changes (by davidsarah):

 * status:  reopened => closed
 * resolution:   => fixed
 * milestone:  undecided => 1.10.0


Old description:

> Let's drop support for versions of Python < 2.6. According to
> distrowatch's tables about the versions of packages that come with
> distros, this would exclude Tahoe-LAFS 1.10 from being usable with the
> included Python on the following versions of major distros:
>
> ||= distro =||= excluded version =||= excluded version release date =||=
> oldest supported[*] version =||= oldest supported[*] release date =||=
> Python in oldest supported[*] =||= notes =||= next version =||= Python in
> next version =||
> ||=[http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=fedora Fedora]   =||=10
> =||=2008-11-25 =||=15        =||=2011-05-24 =||=2.7 =||= =||=rawhide will
> be 17 =||=2.7.2 =||
> || [http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=ubuntu Ubuntu]    ||
> 8.10 || 2008-10-30  || 10.04 LTS  || 2010-04-29  || 2.6  || || will be
> 12.04 precise ||2.7.2 ||
> ||=[http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=debian Debian]
> =||=5.0 =||=2009-02-15 =||=6.0       =||=2011-02-06 =||=2.6 =||=
> =||=unstable sid will be 7.0 =||=2.7.2 =||
> ||=[http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=redhat RedHat]
> =||=5.7 =||=2011-07-21 =||=5.7       =||=2011-07-21 =||=2.4 =||= I'm told
> that people tend to install their own newer version of Python when they
> want to use newer Python programs on older RHEL  =||=(current, not next)
> 6.2 =||=2.6.6 =||
>
> Among other benefits, dropping support for Pythons older than 2.6 would
> allow us to remove the
> [source:git/src/allmydata/_auto_deps.py?annotate=blame&rev=76e7f0ad4b0d109a9a92e451ac9b3c9e8a827eb0#L15
> dependency on simplejson] and the (complex imperatively decided)
> [source:git/src/allmydata/_auto_deps.py?annotate=blame&rev=76e7f0ad4b0d109a9a92e451ac9b3c9e8a827eb0#L92
> dependency on pysqlite].
>
> See comment:11 -- apparently Python ≥ 2.6 is already ubiquitous in the
> *BSD world.
>
> [*] that is, the oldest OS version supported by the OS distributors and
> still receiving security patches.

New description:

 Let's drop support for versions of Python < 2.6. According to
 distrowatch's tables about the versions of packages that come with
 distros, this would exclude Tahoe-LAFS 1.10 from being usable with the
 included Python on the following versions of major distros:

 ||= distro =||= excluded version =||= excluded version release date =||=
 oldest supported[*] version =||= oldest supported[*] release date =||=
 Python in oldest supported[*] =||= notes =||= next version =||= Python in
 next version =||
 ||=[http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=fedora Fedora]   =||=10
 =||=2008-11-25 =||=15        =||=2011-05-24 =||=2.7 =||= =||=rawhide will
 be 17 =||=2.7.2 =||
 || [http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=ubuntu Ubuntu]    ||
 8.10 || 2008-10-30  || 10.04 LTS  || 2010-04-29  || 2.6  || || will be
 12.04 precise ||2.7.2 ||
 ||=[http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=debian Debian]   =||=5.0
 =||=2009-02-15 =||=6.0       =||=2011-02-06 =||=2.6 =||= =||=unstable sid
 will be 7.0 =||=2.7.2 =||
 ||=[http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=redhat RedHat]   =||=5.7
 =||=2011-07-21 =||=5.7       =||=2011-07-21 =||=2.4 =||= I'm told that
 people tend to install their own newer version of Python when they want to
 use newer Python programs on older RHEL  =||=(current, not next) 6.2
 =||=2.6.6 =||

 Among other benefits, dropping support for Pythons older than 2.6 would
 allow us to remove the
 [source:git/src/allmydata/_auto_deps.py?annotate=blame&rev=76e7f0ad4b0d109a9a92e451ac9b3c9e8a827eb0#L15
 dependency on simplejson] and the (complex imperatively decided)
 [source:git/src/allmydata/_auto_deps.py?annotate=blame&rev=76e7f0ad4b0d109a9a92e451ac9b3c9e8a827eb0#L92
 dependency on pysqlite].

 See comment:11 -- apparently Python ≥ 2.6 is already ubiquitous in the
 *BSD world.

 [*] that is, the oldest OS version supported by the OS distributors and
 still receiving security patches.

--

Comment:

 Fixed in [https://github.com/tahoe-lafs/tahoe-
 lafs/commit/7008ffa55e601341159c02d6b22e1f883a04d528 7008ffa5].

 I realized that the patch fixing #1775 depends on a construct added in
 Python 2.6 ({{{"except Exception as e"}}}). I think we had already decided
 to drop Python 2.5 for Tahoe-LAFS v1.10.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1658#comment:28>
tahoe-lafs <https://tahoe-lafs.org>
secure decentralized storage