Re: PEP 394 and shebang lines for /usr/bin/python2 scripts
Barry Warsaw <barry@debian.org> wrote:
>On Jul 24, 2013, at 01:32 PM, Scott Kitterman wrote:
>
>>Jakub Wilk <jwilk@debian.org> wrote:
>>>* Barry Warsaw <barry@debian.org>, 2013-07-24, 12:38:
>>>>In any case, it's come up that PEP 394 recommends distros start
>>>>adopting shebang lines that state /usr/bin/python2 in their scripts,
>
>>>>and I don't think we do this yet. We should!
>>>
>>>We absolutely should not.
>>
>>Definitely not. The entire notion that /usr/bin/python should point
>at
>>python3 anytime soon is nuts. Do it when python2.7 is removed from
>the
>>archive, not before. If you aren't going to do that switch,
>/usr/bin/python2
>>is meaningless other than as a workaround for people who care about
>Arch.
>>Since upstream now ships /usr/bin/python2 we should too (and we do for
>>Jessie), but there's no good reason for us to be using it.
>
>Can you or Jakub elaborate on *why* you think it's a bad idea? I can't
>see
>how it hurts. Setting aside the Python 3 transition, and in light of
>the
>recommendations of PEP 394:
>
>* It doesn't break anything. As you say, we already ship
>/usr/bin/python2, so
>everything that works with #!/usr/bin/python will continue to work with
>#!/usr/bin/python2. You can still override the shebang line with
>whatever
> executable you want, of course.
>
>* Nobody probably even cares. How many people care what's in the
>shebang line
>of scripts? I bet the fraction of users that have looked at the lines
>is
> pretty low (it was a while before we finally agreed to stop shipping
> #!/usr/bin/env python).
>
>Note that no one is saying that /usr/bin/python should change to
>python3 *any
>time soon*. I don't put 2+ years away as any time soon (given that I
>agree
>upstream Python shouldn't even consider changing the recommendation
>before
>Python 2.7 goes into security-only mode in May 2015).
>
>So I guess I'd turn it around and say there's no good reason for us
>*not* to
>do it, but maybe I'm overlooking something.
Don't we have more important things to worry about? It only matters at all if one is contemplating switching the /usr/bin/python symlink to python3. We aren't, so let's not change something just to change it.
When does security support for python2.7 end?
Scott K
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