[arch-dev-public] Add active Python versions to the repos

[Filipe Laíns]

On Thu, 2020-11-26 at 21:21 +0100, Jelle van der Waa wrote:
> On 21/11/2020 15:34, Filipe Laíns via arch-dev-public wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > 
> > I want to propose adding all active Python versions to [community], not
> > just the latest one. This would only entail adding the interpreter
> > itself, no other packages.
> > 
> > Having access to interpreters for older active versions is really
> > helpful for Python developers. This allows them to easily run test
> > suites against older versions. It is very common for developers to
> > maintain software against a couple major releases. Tools like tox or
> > nox are able to automate testing against multiple Python versions, just
> > needing the interpreter.
> > 
> > The current active Python releases are:
> >    - 3.9
> >    - 3.8
> >    - 3.7
> >    - 3.6
> >    - 2.7
> > 
> > The list can be found here[1].
> > 
> > So, I propose introducing 2 new packages:
> >    - python3.7
> >    - python3.6
> > 
> > And when we update the python package to 3.9:
> >    - python3.8
> 
> I am not super in favor of providing an old version, as we strive to 
> provide the latest and greatest. However some things come to mind:

We would still provide the latest and greatest :P

> * Does the Python foundation still maintain older Python versions and do 
> they provide proper security updates?

It depends on the version. Python 3.6 and 3.7 are in security maintenance
status.

I am okay limiting my proposal to interpreters which are getting security
updates, which at the time being doesn't change anything regarding the versions
affected.

It is also not clear in the proposal, but I have mentioned in the replies. I
only want the interpreters there as long as they do not give us any issues. If a
interpreter starts needing older dependencies or otherwise becomes a maintenance
burden, it would be removed.

> * This seems to be purely for Development right? Users would use this 
> Python version to bootstrap a virtualenv I guess?

The target is development, yes.
You are correct, users, or tools, could use the interpreter to bootstrap a
virtual environment using either virtualenv, which supports using external
interpreters, or the builtin venv module.

> 
> Greetings,
> 
> Jelle
> 

Cheers,
Filipe Laíns
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