Fedora 31 Preparing To Start Removing Packages Depending Upon Python 2

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Fedora 31 Preparing To Start Removing Packages Depending Upon Python 2

Python 2 support will formally reach end-of-life on 1 January 2020 and Fedora 31 is preparing for that by working to drop packages (or parts of packages) that depend upon Python 2...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Fedora-31-Working-To-Kill-Py2

[Anvil]

should have been done in F30 IMO. why wait for F31 to do it? seems pointless

[jo-erlend]

should have been done in F30 IMO. why wait for F31 to do it? seems pointless

Well, distros distribute, so why remove things before it's necessary?

[reavertm]

Hopefully they drop only dependency tree leafs that require Python 2, not Python modules in that version as I occasionally need those to test building some corpo stuff (that uses Python 2.7) and wouldn't like to setup virtualenv just for that (or I guess having it in some separate repo would be enough).

[Weasel]

Imagine if nobody used trash like Python.

One problem less in the world.

[skeevy420]

Well, distros distribute, so why remove things before it's necessary?

To force projects to either update or be left behind. When the major distributions ship both versions, there isn't that much incentive to update a project from 2 to 3.

I really don't like it when I go to install something and it pulls in a crapload of Python 2 dependencies when I already have the Python 3 versions of those dependencies installed. For me as an end user and someone who doesn't use Python outside of installed packages that require it, it would remove more system bloat than anything else.

The core of Arch has been Python 3 for a few years now and it's also an option for Gentoo, probably other distributions as well. On Arch, Python 2 isn't needed until you stray into the community repo and AUR packages.

I do see why people like reavertm wouldn't like it due to corporate reasons and adding extra steps in their workflow and whatnot. For that alone, hopefully Fedora, or someone in the Fedora community, will have a legacy Python repository as an interim measure.

[Sonadow]

Python 2.7 is a mandatory build-time dependency for Firefox.

So Fedora will just have to drop Firefox if that's the case.

[skeevy420]

Python 2.7 is a mandatory build-time dependency for Firefox.

So Fedora will just have to drop Firefox if that's the case.

Yeah, but since 2.7 isn't a runtime dependency that might not be a factor. It also looks like FF is almost ready to be compatible with both 2 and 3 judging by various comments in their hg repo.

I didn't realize 2.7 was hitting EOL in less than a year until I read Fedora's summary and reasons why. That's enough of a reason for both Fedora and Firefox to migrate to 3...as well as everything else for that matter or Python 2 will be the new Windows XP.

In their own words:

There will be less Python 2 RPMs in Fedora repos. Users are encouraged to switch to Python 3 and/or use Python 2 virtual environments and pip for development.

Looks like it'll be up to third parties to provide a complete Python 2 repository for those that still want it that way.

[DanL]

should have been done in F30 IMO. why wait for F31 to do it? seems pointless

What's the big hurry? Considering that Python2 is supported upstream until 2020, it doesn't need to be a release blocking bug/transition at this point. They are trying to make the transition as painless as possible.

Or maybe you're the kind of person that has an abscessed tooth and reaches for the pliers?

[DanL]

Imagine if nobody used trash like Python.

Considering that thousands of programs/programmers used it, I'm guessing they didn't consider it trash. Or wait, let me guess - you're an uber-elite programmer that writes everything in assembly and everyone should be just like you?