Re: python25 removed

[John Marino <netbsd%marino.st@localhost>]

On 10/4/2012 18:24, Greg Troxel wrote:
> Here we cross the tricky line from "upstream does not maintain it, so
> it's definitely crufty" into "I don't see why someone else should not
> have moved from 2.6 to 2.7, so let's nuke it".  As always, we don't know
> what people are doing that isn't in pkgsrc (using python from pkgsrc).
> And migrating systems takes time - I know of multiple boxes with 26 in
> use, even though they could be rebuilt to 27.

I see this as mixing concepts.
One concept is using python for purposes not related to pkgsrc and the 
other concept is using a specific version python to build specific 
packages that can't be built with anything else.

For the latter concept, there's no problem at all deleting python2.6 if 
nothing requires it.

For the former concept, you can make the same argument about python2.4.

As I understand it, pkgsrc is segmented into "branches" so each branch 
should be self-contained and also to provide a guarantee that with this 
infrastructure, that package will build.  "Migration" is only a problem 
if you start mixing branches, but that is specifically not supported (or 
do at your own risk).


> Right now I don't see what harm python26's continued presence is
> causing, and I object to a general approach of "I don't use that any
> more so let's delete it".


Correction: PKGSRC doesn't need it anymore, it has a more modern 
replacement.

I object to needless versions of the same package.  I would not object 
to python2.6 if it didn't spawn packages.  Can multiversion be modified 
to build python2.6 without building python2.6-based packages?  Then 
everybody wins.

John