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> Who thinks like this? Computer numerologists? Surely what matters is feature support and quality, not big version numbers. I don't think anyone's interested

> Who thinks like this? Computer numerologists? Surely what matters is feature support and quality, not big version numbers. I don't think anyone's interested literally because it's a bigger number - you're responding to an imaginary argument nobody made. People could be interested in Python 4 because they want another opportunity to make substantial breaking changes for the better, which you can only do on a major increment. An example could be something like removing the GIL. (Not saying that'd be a good idea or not.)

formerly_proven 5y ago
> I don't think anyone's interested literally because it's a bigger number - you're responding to an imaginary argument nobody made. Yet when some browser (Chrome) switched to Very Big Version Numbers, all other browsers followed suit and matched those version numbers very closely. So clearly there is marketing behind version numbers.
- viraptor 5y ago
  I don't think the browser change was due to marketing (or not only). They needed a steady release stream that people just accepted, rather than holding off on installing 5.0, because that's a big change from 4.19. They release often now with many internal changes each time and the version number became pretty much meaningless. Chrome now releases with "I don't care about your distro release schedule" cadence.
svantana 5y ago
> an imaginary argument The article is written like there are people that want python 4 regardless of what features it has. And I know from experience that there are plenty of people out there that want new shiny versions of software, but when asked what is wrong with the current release, they can't say.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
Spivak 5y ago
You can remove the GIL without bumping the Python version number because it isn't actually specified anywhere in the language but is an implementation detail of CPython. If you were willing to compromise CPython's single-threaded performance significantly you could remove it tomorrow. Or if you are willing to give up C extensions you could use IronPython or Jython today!

formerly_proven 5y ago

> I don't think anyone's interested literally because it's a bigger number - you're responding to an imaginary argument nobody made. Yet when some browser (Chrome) switched to Very Big Version Numbers, all other browsers followed suit and matched those version numbers very closely. So clearly there is marketing behind version numbers.

viraptor 5y ago
I don't think the browser change was due to marketing (or not only). They needed a steady release stream that people just accepted, rather than holding off on installing 5.0, because that's a big change from 4.19. They release often now with many internal changes each time and the version number became pretty much meaningless. Chrome now releases with "I don't care about your distro release schedule" cadence.

svantana 5y ago

> an imaginary argument The article is written like there are people that want python 4 regardless of what features it has. And I know from experience that there are plenty of people out there that want new shiny versions of software, but when asked what is wrong with the current release, they can't say.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

Spivak 5y ago

You can remove the GIL without bumping the Python version number because it isn't actually specified anywhere in the language but is an implementation detail of CPython. If you were willing to compromise CPython's single-threaded performance significantly you could remove it tomorrow. Or if you are willing to give up C extensions you could use IronPython or Jython today!