On Thu, 14 Nov 2013 12:27:58 +1100, Chris Angelico wrote: > On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 12:14 PM, Denis McMahon > <denismfmcma...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Nobody is so stupid as to run alpha software on a production server[1] >> are they? >> >> [1] In this context, "production server" means any system facing the >> public internet upon which python code is executed in response to >> inputs from the public internet. Surely the answer to that is, "define stupid"? What are the consequences of breakage? If the consequences are minor, why wouldn't I use alpha software? Hypothetically speaking, even if the machine were totally compromised, I might just shrug and rebuild it (hopefully having reported the security vulnerability that allowed the compromise, and having it fixed). But specifically in this case, I agree with your implication, and question the wisdom of the OP upgrading from a stable version of 3.3 to an alpha version of 3.4. > I don't know that that's necessarily stupid. For a lot of my work, I've > been using a trunk version of Pike (7.9.11 currently), and if I were > working more heavily with Python on my servers, I would consider using > alpha versions if there were features that I wanted (or fixes that I > needed). It's not stupid, but it does require a "hand on the tiller" so > to speak; running alpha code - or, for that matter, any code you > compiled yourself - in production means taking responsibility for it. Yes, this! A master craftsman knows when to break the rules. I personally would not run a public web app using alpha software because I know my limitations, but I'm sure there are those who have both the skill to manage it and the wisdom to know whether or not to risk it. > I'm confident of my own ability to keep up with changes, but for most > people, I would strongly recommend taking, in order: (1) the Python that > your distro provides; (2) a python.org published stable version; (3) a > preproduction (eg RC) version; and finally (4) anything else, including > straight from Mercurial. The further down that list you go, the more > work you have to do yourself to ensure compatibility, dependency > management, etcetera. +1 -- Steven -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
