MIX - Novell's de Icaza criticizes Microsoft patent deal (LinuxWorld)

Posted Mar 11, 2008 4:34 UTC (Tue) by beoba (guest, #16942)
In reply to: MIX - Novell's de Icaza criticizes Microsoft patent deal (LinuxWorld) by tialaramex
Parent article: MIX - Novell's de Icaza criticizes Microsoft patent deal (LinuxWorld)

Python 3 is not planned to be forward compatible, hence the change in major version number.

2.5.2 is a bugfix release within the 2.5 branch. The aforementioned problem is being solved by
adding a new function call to the standard library, which inherently makes it a target for
2.6.

It sounds like you're complaining without any intent of seeking a resolution to your
complaint. At this point, there isn't really anything else to discuss. Patches welcome.

Python

Posted Mar 11, 2008 10:44 UTC (Tue) by tialaramex (subscriber, #21167) [Link]

Of course it's possible to resolve this complaint, but only by taking it seriously. Here's a
thought, why don't you present an example of something that would actually have broken if
Python had taken this fix in some form for 2.5.2 ?

No ? The maintainers working on this bug didn't either. 

Rather than offer an actual rationale you've just recited policy, "inherently makes it a
target for 2.6" isn't a statement about some universal and "inherent" truth but of the
maintainer's policy.

So there's your patch, find the "policy" document that says fixes like this can't go into a
bugfix release, and change it to say "We aim to be pragmatic about taking fixes early." Or
else take the Twisp and Catsby route, and just add a policy statement that Python is not for
use in production software. Either is an adequate response to my complaint (well originally it
wasn't a complaint, just a statement that Python and Mono's C# remain inadequate for serious
application development in 2008).