grepping the tree shows nothing depends on python:2.4, so this should be good to go. portage-2.1.[78] depends on || ( 2.5 <2.6.6:2.6 ), so I'm not sure here, but since 2.6 is also supported (up to 2.6.5, which is still there) this should also be good to go.
There are still many packages, which depend on Python 2.4 or 2.5. You forgot to grep for e.g. =dev-lang/python-2.4* or <dev-lang/python-2.6.
The latter is right, the former not really. With new grep patterns, I found two packages that require 2.4/2.5, those two are dev-python/turbogears and net-zope/zope. turbogears has two open bugs for a bump which would fix this and zope has an open bug that requests bumping or removing. Feel free to close the bug again if I'm still wrong, but I really don't find any reason to keep <2.6. Ubuntu switched to python2.6 one and a half year ago, so packages requiring older python just need to be bumped, can be fixed with a patch from Ubuntu or aren't used by anyone anyway.
New versions of Plone, Silva, other Zope-related packages and TurboGears require about 100 - 150 new packages, so you will have to wait patiently...
I heard that enterprisy people still use Python 2.4. If that's true it would be good if we enabled our users to test their software with Python 2.4 as well. I propose closing this bug as WONTFIX and keep 2.4 and 2.5 in. Thanks.
(In reply to comment #3) > New versions of Plone, Silva, other Zope-related packages and TurboGears > require about 100 - 150 new packages, so you will have to wait patiently... Well, someone did the work in an overlay already. Also I'm not saying remove it _now_, but it's been there long enough, everyone who still uses it needs to arrive in the present. (In reply to comment #4) > I heard that enterprisy people still use Python 2.4. If that's true it would > be good if we enabled our users to test their software with Python 2.4 as well. > > I propose closing this bug as WONTFIX and keep 2.4 and 2.5 in. Thanks. That kinda sounds too enterprisy to me. I also cannot believe all these people use Gentoo, because like I already said, other distributions use 2.6 for quite some time now.
I definitely wouldn't want to get rid of python-2.5 yet; we could debate the merits of keeping 2.4 around, but I'm not sure what getting rid of it buys us. Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think keeping it around is taking a lot of round tuits from gentoo devs? (I'm also not really sure what motivated this bug.) And yes, some people are still depending on 2.4, even if I'd contend that that number is rapidly shrinking.
I agree with djc: please keep at least python 2.5 around unless there are obvious reasons for removing it. Having it is convenient when writing code that must run on a system that does not have 2.6 available (such systems are still common). And just keeping older pythons in the tree does not negatively impact systems that do not have it installed. Do we have packages that are more difficult to maintain because of having 2.5 in the tree (that cannot be fixed by only installing for a newer python)? Are there other problems with the 2.5 (or 2.4) python ebuild itself? What problem would this removal actually solve?
Python 2.4 definitely won't be removed until Zope maintainers find time to add new versions of all packages with active upstreams (Plone, Silva etc.).
Okay, going to WONTFIX this now.
