[MacPorts] #14342: python25 drops modules by default, but python25 doesn't (js)

[Derek Harland]

On 8/03/2008, at 8:06 AM, macports-dev-request at lists.macosforge.org  
wrote:
> Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 00:22:42 +0900
> From: js <ebgssth at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [MacPorts] #14342: python25 drops modules by default,	but
> 	python25 doesn't
> To: "Markus Weissmann" <mww at macports.org>
> Cc: MacPorts Developers <macports-dev at lists.macosforge.org>
>
> Apparently more people like this change.
> I'll get back to trac ticket and start working on this.

I'm not sure I particularly like this proposed change.  As I  
understand it, you explicitly want to *downgrade* the functionality  
of python24 to make it more like python25, by for example, removing  
hashlib and zlib.

I cannot understand the logic of this.  This can only conceivably  
break python24 installations.  Even if all existing py-* ports are  
altered to bring in extra required dependencies, peoples (and  
institutions) own proprietary code that previously assumed the  
existence of these standard libraries will break.  And that will  
annoy them greatly.

Why are you proposing to explicitly *downgrade* python24, instead of  
*upgrading* python25?

I also do not buy into the inference that's been made in this thread  
in the past that more people must be using python25 than python24.   
For institutions with large proprietary codebases (eg financial  
companies), shifting python versions *is* a costly business that is  
not worth the often negligible benefit.  I would suggest that many  
are still running more code off 2.4 than 2.5 (companies I have been  
involved with have moved from 1.5->20->2.2->2.4->2.6).  I'm not  
suggesting many such companies run code on OSX, but mine certainly is.

derek.