What version of Python 3.x should ship with Slackware 15.0?
 

I figured we would want the latest version, and upgrading from 3.8 to 3.9 had been uneventful, but we've hit a few more speed bumps with this one so I'm looking for some community feedback. If Slackware 15.0 is only going to ship one version of Python3, which one should it be?

IMHO, python-3.9, for compatibility (I'm thinking also about all the stuff on SBo broken by the newer one).

and, if we can, python-setuptools-57.5.0 (< 58), mainly for the same reason.

It will probably depend on the release date :)

(I try, you never know...)

I vote for python 3.9. My point of view is that if in doubt then we may have look at other distributions offering stable releases. Here on my Devuan which is developing version - there is python 3.9. And it seems it appeared in February 2021. I think no need to create own policy in this matter. It may just appear that many people will be switching to python 3.9.

I would have to err on the side of caution with this one. 3.9 has been working fine where 3.10 seems to be breaking a lot of things (including things that I use).

It would also depend on how soon you would like to release. Personally, I can wait. But do we want to wait for all the other devs to catch up? And how long would that take?

I'm not knowledgeable enough to say but that doesn't stop me from having an opinion. I had to find a newer version of lxml to get it to build than what was offered at Slackbuilds. The one on Slackbuilds was released "2019-8-11" and I used the one that was released "2021-3-21" to get it to build with the new python. I don't know how many programs are affected, how many programs would build if newer versions were being used, but I do know that Python 3.10 effectively obsoleted older versions of programs and libraries like lxml on Slackbuilds. I don't know what changed between 3.9 and 3.10, and how that will affect 3.9 as newer versions of programs and libraries will be written for 3.10. Currently 3.9 would probably be best for what people use but in the next year will incompatibility develop between 3.9 and stuff that uses 3.10 when annual updates to other distributions come with it? I haven't looked to see what changed to cause this break. https://lxml.de/

I imagine that if you ask for feedback, it's because you're personnaly not completely sure that 3.10 is a good choice. I would vote for 3.9. The 3.10 version breaks some slackware packages, and surely many others outside. Not sure slackware is ready for python 3.10, nor glic-2.34 for a next slackware 15 release.

In case it helps anyone to decide:

Python 3.9.x will receive "full support" until approx. 2022-05, and security fixes until approx. 2025-10

Python 3.10.x will receive "full support" until approx. 2023-05, and security fixes until approx. 2026-10

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histor...le_of_versions )

And here's an article on changes in Python 3.10: https://lwn.net/Articles/860389/

Just for information:

Fedora 35 will be released next month with python 3.10 (at the end of November)

I know Fedora is not Slackware ... but it's a major distribution used on a large scale and I think they take this kind of things in consideration.

Thanks for asking.

As others said, it depends on the release date, but also on when you consider providing Slackware 16. If it's long after 2025-10 (end of support for 3.9) I'd say 3.10, else 3.9.

We have currently 210 packages built against 3.9 in Slint so out of laziness I'd prefer not to rebuild them, but I will do that if need be, and some are already in -current, so less work for me ;)

As a home computer user, I successfully rebuilt my third-party python packages with python 3.10 (less than 10 rebuilds) and could continue with 3.10.
However my use case is not representative and based on the various feedbacks about the issues with 3.10, I voted to keep 3.9 for Slackware 15.0 as one doesn't need such a significant change in the run-up to a much anticipated new stable release.

With the information from @semiprime and @marav, I would probably stick with 3.10 for a little bit at least. If the date gets near that you decide to release and things still have not ironed out, reverting to 3.9 might be the only option.

So my vote would be uncertain still. (I voted 3.9)

Personally I have only been bit with one bug with 3.10 so far. Polychromatic, the author confirmed the bug and is working on a fix. This is a tough one, if the release is just around the corner, then I say go back to 3.9. If we still got a month or two or more, then stick with 3.10 and lets work it out.

I voted for 3.9 for the singular reason that maybe it will help Slackware 15 be released sooner. :D

Since (i) current has been recompiled against python-3.10, (ii) most slackware users will by now probably be using current rather then 14.2 as 14.2 is somewhat old, and (iii) those users will likely have rebuilt their out-of-distribution python software by now (I have), I should leave things as they are. Most of the things affected by the removal in python-3.10 of some previously deprecated modules will in any event be fixed soon enough. I suppose the time to ask the question was before making the change in current.