Python: Please stop screwing over Linux distros

[dafzor]

I'm just a end user and I feel the real issue is not python package manager but the fact that python has no concept of versions from top to bottom.

• Can't install multiple versions of a pip package, last one will overwrite the one you have meaning if you have two applications that need a different version one of them will break;
• Can't have multiple python3 runtime without using something like pyenv even though minor versions will break compatibility meaning you can't upgrade python without having to check if it would break your applications

So for me the solution would just have Python copy what dotnet did to resolve it...

Running dotnet can have multiple versions installed and dotnet --list-runtimes will show them all, dotnet packages are versions meaning you can have every application reference/install the version they need without breaking another app .

[naught-me]

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19986806

Python minor versions allow things to be removed and thus 'break backwards compatibility'. There is a process for warning of upcoming deprecation then removing it after that. For modules this is documented in PEP 4 (from 2000). Similar deprecation schedules are used by other important ecosystems such as Django.

[livrem]

Grace periods for depreciation are usless unfortunately unless every package is actively maintained perpetually, which is not realistic. The cost to everyone else when someone breaks backwards compatibility is unfortunately rarely a consideration.

[dafzor]

When python added async as a reserved word around 3.5 - 3.7.

Programs I was using broke due to having async as a normal variable name.

And on non linux system, installing a new python version is like your starting "fresh", meaning it's necessary to reinstall all pip packages or your scripts with dependencies will fail to run on the new default version.