4 ms·

Except for the guy who tried to do that with Python2 and the Python Foundation threatened legal action

jeroenhd 3y ago
When did they do that? All I can find is the Python foundation protecting their trademark. Someone launched "Python 2.8" without any affiliation to the Python Foundation, that's a silly move. Surely everyone in open source learned from the Iceweasel debacle. Something called Tauthon is still being patched every few months for people who can't let go of Python 2.7, though I don't see many contributors to that fork.
- codetrotter 3y ago
  > Someone launched "Python 2.8" without any affiliation to the Python Foundation, that's a silly move. […] > Something called Tauthon is still being patched every few months for people who can't let go of Python 2.7 I was curious and did a search for Python 2.8 and found: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13144713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13144713 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13159144 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13159144 Clicking on the GitHub repo it seems that in fact the project making unauthorised use of the name “Python 2.8” was the one that ended up changing its name to Tauthon. Neat!
  - bandrami 3y ago
    Also "without any affiliation" is a stretch. He picked up a codebase they abandoned and they got pissy because he kept its name. It was really not a good look.
- adastra22 3y ago
  This is more than a little ironic since Python stole its name from a British comedy show.
  - jeroenhd 3y ago
    Monty Python didn't register Python as a name for computer software was far as I know. Nobody was going to confuse the two. Releasing Python 2.8 would definitely confuse people.
    - bandrami 3y ago
      I did in fact find it confusing that a very different language was released under the name "Python 3". They probably should have picked a new name rather than capitalizing on the original language's popularity to push their new idea.
    - adastra22 3y ago
      What would be the confusion? It’s a continuation of a language interpreter compatible with the dialect known as Python2. Renaming it is more confusing!
      - JoshTriplett 3y ago
        "Python 2.8" implies it's the One True Continuation of Python 2.7, as opposed to someone's random fork.
        bandrami 3y ago
        Is there another continuation of Python 2.7 you know of? He literally took over an abandoned codebase, and got sued for calling it the codebase's name.
        abenga 3y ago
        You can't release new code that is incompatible with Python and call it Python if you have not been allowed to do so by the Python Software Foundation. It's like, basic trademark law.
- bandrami 3y ago
  > without any affiliation to the Python Foundation Sorry, no dice. The Python team said for years as the 2 to 3 rollout grew increasingly catastrophic "If you wan't to keep Python 2 all you have to do is maintain it" and then threatened to sue the guy who called their bluff. It was a real low point in free software.
  - jeroenhd 3y ago
    This guy wasn't maintaining Python, he as creating a new version incompatible with either Python 2.7 or Python 3. Red Hat and other large companies have maintained Python for years after 2.7 died (EOL date was January 1st, 2020). IBM/Red Hat offer Python 2.7 including security fixes and bug fixes until 2024 (https://access.redhat.com/solutions/4455511 https://access.redhat.com/solutions/4455511). Had he just provided patches to Python 2.7, nobody would've batted an eye. Instead, they created an alternative language that was completely different (https://web.archive.org/web/20161210161837/https://www.naftaliharris.com/blog/why-making-python-2.8/ https://web.archive.org/web/20161210161837/https://www.nafta...). Founders and core devs indicated that the name was the only problem (https://github.com/naftaliharris/tauthon/issues/47#issuecomment-266218423 https://github.com/naftaliharris/tauthon/issues/47#issuecomm...) and that even things like the header file names could continue to be named Python because of API compatibility. You can fork any open source project you like, but you still need to stick follow trademark law. You can't just release Linux 2.7 because you disagree with breaking changes in 3.0 either, but you're free to take the Linux code and release Twonux if you really care.
    - DangitBobby 3y ago
      After reading your first link I'm having a very hard time understanding how it's a "new version incompatible with either Python 2.7 or Python 3" or how you can think "they created an alternative language that was completely different" is true in any sense. > Python 2.8 is a backwards-compatible Python interpreter that runs Python 2 code and C-extensions exactly as-is, while also allowing Python 2 programmers to use the most exciting new language features from Python 3. Really sounds like Python 2.8 to me!

When did they do that? All I can find is the Python foundation protecting their trademark. Someone launched "Python 2.8" without any affiliation to the Python Foundation, that's a silly move. Surely everyone in open source learned from the Iceweasel debacle. Something called Tauthon is still being patched every few months for people who can't let go of Python 2.7, though I don't see many contributors to that fork.

codetrotter 3y ago
> Someone launched "Python 2.8" without any affiliation to the Python Foundation, that's a silly move. […] > Something called Tauthon is still being patched every few months for people who can't let go of Python 2.7 I was curious and did a search for Python 2.8 and found: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13144713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13144713 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13159144 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13159144 Clicking on the GitHub repo it seems that in fact the project making unauthorised use of the name “Python 2.8” was the one that ended up changing its name to Tauthon. Neat!
- bandrami 3y ago
  Also "without any affiliation" is a stretch. He picked up a codebase they abandoned and they got pissy because he kept its name. It was really not a good look.
adastra22 3y ago
This is more than a little ironic since Python stole its name from a British comedy show.
- jeroenhd 3y ago
  Monty Python didn't register Python as a name for computer software was far as I know. Nobody was going to confuse the two. Releasing Python 2.8 would definitely confuse people.
  - bandrami 3y ago
    I did in fact find it confusing that a very different language was released under the name "Python 3". They probably should have picked a new name rather than capitalizing on the original language's popularity to push their new idea.
  - adastra22 3y ago
    What would be the confusion? It’s a continuation of a language interpreter compatible with the dialect known as Python2. Renaming it is more confusing!
    - JoshTriplett 3y ago
      "Python 2.8" implies it's the One True Continuation of Python 2.7, as opposed to someone's random fork.
      - bandrami 3y ago
        Is there another continuation of Python 2.7 you know of? He literally took over an abandoned codebase, and got sued for calling it the codebase's name.
        abenga 3y ago
        You can't release new code that is incompatible with Python and call it Python if you have not been allowed to do so by the Python Software Foundation. It's like, basic trademark law.
bandrami 3y ago
> without any affiliation to the Python Foundation Sorry, no dice. The Python team said for years as the 2 to 3 rollout grew increasingly catastrophic "If you wan't to keep Python 2 all you have to do is maintain it" and then threatened to sue the guy who called their bluff. It was a real low point in free software.
- jeroenhd 3y ago
  This guy wasn't maintaining Python, he as creating a new version incompatible with either Python 2.7 or Python 3. Red Hat and other large companies have maintained Python for years after 2.7 died (EOL date was January 1st, 2020). IBM/Red Hat offer Python 2.7 including security fixes and bug fixes until 2024 (https://access.redhat.com/solutions/4455511 https://access.redhat.com/solutions/4455511). Had he just provided patches to Python 2.7, nobody would've batted an eye. Instead, they created an alternative language that was completely different (https://web.archive.org/web/20161210161837/https://www.naftaliharris.com/blog/why-making-python-2.8/ https://web.archive.org/web/20161210161837/https://www.nafta...). Founders and core devs indicated that the name was the only problem (https://github.com/naftaliharris/tauthon/issues/47#issuecomment-266218423 https://github.com/naftaliharris/tauthon/issues/47#issuecomm...) and that even things like the header file names could continue to be named Python because of API compatibility. You can fork any open source project you like, but you still need to stick follow trademark law. You can't just release Linux 2.7 because you disagree with breaking changes in 3.0 either, but you're free to take the Linux code and release Twonux if you really care.
  - DangitBobby 3y ago
    After reading your first link I'm having a very hard time understanding how it's a "new version incompatible with either Python 2.7 or Python 3" or how you can think "they created an alternative language that was completely different" is true in any sense. > Python 2.8 is a backwards-compatible Python interpreter that runs Python 2 code and C-extensions exactly as-is, while also allowing Python 2 programmers to use the most exciting new language features from Python 3. Really sounds like Python 2.8 to me!