Hi everyone, one of the objectives for stretch was to reduce the number of Python 2 packages that are installed in common scenarios, instead having the Python 3 stack take over. The "standard task" within tasksel is a reasonable place to look.¹
Thanks to the recent work on reportbug and debianbts, this is now largely complete. In a stretch chroot, install the standard task:² # aptitude install ~prequired ~pimportant ~pstandard and the only python packages installed are: # aptitude search ~npython~i i A dh-python i A libpython-stdlib i A libpython2.7 i A libpython2.7-minimal i A libpython2.7-stdlib i A libpython3-stdlib i A libpython3.5-minimal i A libpython3.5-stdlib i python i python-apt i A python-apt-common i python-gpg i python-minimal i python2.7 i A python2.7-minimal i A python3 i A python3-apt i A python3-chardet i A python3-debian i A python3-debianbts i python3-gpg i A python3-httplib2 i A python3-minimal i A python3-pkg-resources i A python3-pycurl i A python3-pysimplesoap i python3-reportbug i A python3-requests i A python3-six i A python3-urllib3 i A python3.5 i A python3.5-minimal where the packages marked "A" (Automatically Installed) are there to satisfy dependencies only. We see that: python python-apt python-gpg python-minimal python2.7 are now only installed because they are marked as Priority: standard. Question for discussion: Is Python 2 a tool that would be expected to be found on any linux machine and so should it be Priority: standard? Is Python 3? Is now the time to ask ftp-masters to change the overrides to move them to Priority: optional? (My personal feeling is that none of the above packages should be Priority: standard, including Python 3) The libpython2.7* packages are present because: i logrotate Recommends mailx i A mailutils Provides mailx i A mailutils Depends libpython2.7 (>= 2.7) I don't know if mailutils can already use Python 3 instead of Python 2 or how it is actually using Python at all -- the build system will certainly need some work. Perhaps a keen Python 3 porter can investigate that as an opening move for stretch+1 (it's too late for stretch for that transition). cheers Stuart ① The standard task contains packages you'd expect to find on a linux machine such as `less`; yes, it also includes a mail-transport-agent and it probably shouldn't; no, let's not discuss that now. ② Unlike other tasks, the standard task is not defined as a list of packages but as this aptitude search pattern to find all packages that declare Priority: required, important or standard; aptitude will also then install packages of lower priority to satisfy the dependencies. -- Stuart Prescott http://www.nanonanonano.net/ stu...@nanonanonano.net Debian Developer http://www.debian.org/ stu...@debian.org GPG fingerprint 90E2 D2C1 AD14 6A1B 7EBB 891D BBC1 7EBB 1396 F2F7