Bug#737376: texlive-extra-utils: Debian pythontex can't use python3

[Julian Gilbey <jdg@debian.org>]

On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 08:33:21AM +0900, Norbert Preining wrote:
> tags 737376 + pending
> thanks
> 
> On So, 02 Feb 2014, Julian Gilbey wrote:
> > Create a copy of pythontex.py in
> > /usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/scripts/pythontex, called say
> > pythontex3-init.py (pythontex3.py is already used), which has the
> > first line
> 
> THere is already a script pythontex3.py in the directory, but it
> still is called with evn python.
> 
> I have installed changes to the packaging that we instead install
> a script for (de)pythontex3 that warns if python3 is not available,
> otherwise runs the script with
> 	python3 ....
> (yours had exec ...)
> 
> I hope that fits you? See git 914322d3f in texlive-nonbin repo

Thanks, Norbert!

After numerous failed attempts to clone the git repository (alioth
keeps dropping https connections :-( ) I finally gave up and looked at
the online version ;-)

I hadn't realised, but it's now been explained, that the
(de)pythontex3.py scripts are just Python 3 "translations" of the
(de)pythontex2.py scripts and they behave identically otherwise.  So
it is almost pointless having the /usr/bin/(de)pythontex3 scripts, as
they achieve nothing unless someone uninstalls all of their python2.x
packages and python-minimal and is left with only /usr/bin/python3 on
their system.  (This is unlikely to happen.)  And in that case,
/usr/bin/pythontex will fail, but /usr/bin/pythontex3 will succeed.
It's unlikely to be a real use-case.

Much more interesting would be if the /usr/bin/pythontex3 were to
include the argument --interpreter python:python3 before "$@", for
that way, the python interpreter used for the embedded python code
would be python3 rather than python=python2.  In that way,
/usr/bin/pythontex3 would actually have value.  There is no similar
argument for depythontex, so depythontex3 would be there for parallel
but has no significant use beyond it.

:-)

   Julian