Re: Bootstrap with old Python

[Jeffrey Walton]

On Fri, Aug 21, 2020 at 4:45 AM Bruno Haible <bruno@clisp.org> wrote:
>
> Hi Jeffrey,
>
> > I'm testing Wget2. I believe it uses Gnulib from master.
> >
> > Older Python does not respond to 'python --version':
> >
> > Unknown option: --
> > usage: python [option] ... [-c cmd | file | -] [arg] ...
> > Try `python -h' for more information.
> > ./bootstrap: Error: 'python' not found
> >
> > 'python -V' produces expected error messages, but it requires a patch
> > of bootstrap:
> >
> > ./bootstrap: Error: 'python' version == Python 2.3.4 is too old
> > ./bootstrap:        'python' version >= 2 is required
> > ./bootstrap: Please install the prerequisite programs
>
> I don't think there are many users in the same situation than you.
> Reason: Most distros have been shipping Python 2.7.x (minimum) for a
> long time [1].
>
> Also, Python 3 can be assumed from next year on, since Python 2 is
> end-of-life this year [2].

I don't think so. Fiat is a lazy developer practice, and it does not
reflect real life. For example Microsoft claims Windows 7 is dead but
it still has 28% market share.

> Additionally, 'bootstrap' is a development tool. Developers tend
> to have newer tools installed than production systems have.

Yeah, I wish Tim would build a release tarball so we don't have to do
the git submodule thing.

Jeff