PEP 11, Unsupported Platforms, Martin von Loewis

pep-0000.txt

@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ Index by Category
  I     8  Style Guide for Python Code                  van Rossum, Warsaw
  I     9  Sample PEP Template                          Warsaw
  I    10  Voting Guidelines                            Warsaw
+ I    11  Unsupported Platforms                        von Loewis
 
  Other Informational PEPs
 

pep-0011.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+PEP: 11
+Title: Unsupported Platforms
+Version: $Revision$
+Last-Modified: $Date$
+Author: martin@v.loewis.de (Martin v. Löwis)
+Status: Active
+Type: Informational
+Created: 07-Jul-2002
+Post-History: 07-Jul-2002
+
+
+Abstract
+
+    This PEP documents operating systems (platforms) which are not
+    supported in Python anymore.  For some of these systems,
+    supporting code might be still part of Python, but will be removed
+    in a future release - unless somebody steps forward as a volunteer
+    to maintain this code.
+
+
+Rationale
+
+    Over time, the Python source code has collected various pieces of
+    platform-specific code, which, at some point in time, was
+    considered necessary to use Python on a specific platform.
+    Without access to this platform, it is not possible to determine
+    whether this code is still needed.  As a result, this code may
+    either break during the Python evolution, or it may become
+    unnecessary as the platforms evolve as well.
+
+    The growing amount of these fragments poses the risk of
+    unmaintainability: without having experts for a large number of
+    platforms, it is not possible to determine whether a certain
+    change to the Python source code will work on all supported
+    platforms.
+
+    To reduce this risk, this PEP proposes a procedure to remove code
+    for platforms with no Python users.
+
+
+Unsupporting platforms
+
+    If a certain platform that currently has special code in it is
+    deemed to be without Python users, a note must be posted in this
+    PEP that this platform is not longer actively supported.  This
+    note must include:
+
+    - the name of the system
+    - the first release number that does not support this platform
+      anymore, and
+    - the first release where the historical support code is actively
+      removed
+
+    In some cases, it is not possible to identify the specific list of
+    systems for which some code is used (e.g. when autoconf tests for
+    absence of some feature which is considered present on all
+    supported systems).  In this case, the name will give the precise
+    condition (usually a preprocessor symbol) that will become
+    unsupported.
+
+    At the same time, the Python source code must be changed to
+    produce a build-time error if somebody tries to install Python on
+    this platform.  On platforms using autoconf, configure must fail.
+    This gives potential users of the platform a chance to step
+    forward and offer maintenance.
+
+
+Resupporting platforms
+
+    If a user of a platform wants to see this platform supported
+    again, he may volunteer to maintain the platform support.  Such an
+    offer must be recorded in the PEP, and the user can submit patches
+    to remove the build-time errors, and perform any other maintenance
+    work for the platform.
+
+
+Unsupported platforms
+
+    Name:             SunOS 4
+    Unsupported in:   Python 2.3
+    Code removed in:  Python 2.4
+
+    Name:             DYNIX
+    Unsupported in:   Python 2.3
+    Code removed in:  Python 2.4
+
+    Name:             dgux
+    Unsupported in:   Python 2.3
+    Code removed in:  Python 2.4
+
+    Name:             Systems defining __d6_pthread_create (configure.in)
+    Unsupported in:   Python 2.3
+    Code removed in:  Python 2.4
+
+    Name:             Systems defining PY_PTHREAD_D4, PY_PTHREAD_D6,
+                      or PY_PTHREAD_D7 in thread_pthread.h
+    Unsupported in:   Python 2.3
+    Code removed in:  Python 2.4
+
+
+Copyright
+
+    This document has been placed in the public domain.
+
+
+
+Local Variables:
+mode: indented-text
+indent-tabs-mode: nil
+sentence-end-double-space: t
+fill-column: 70
+End: