[chirp_users] New Python coming?

[IT1 Stuart Blake Tener, USNR]

List members,

Let us refocus back into reality and remember why this is happening  
instead of whining like a bunch of kindergartners (or millennials).

First, it is instructive that the official annunciation of the  
forthcoming deprecation of Python 2 (2.7) in 2020 came on 03 NOV 2008,  
as instantiated by the link provided as follows hereupon. Moreover,  
this was an EXTENSION of the previously expected deprecation target of  
2015.

https://legacy.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0373/

The foregoing notwithstanding, large swaths of developers have either  
chosen a strategy of ignoring this issue at the peril of themselves  
and ostensibly the users of their code, or intend to substantiate one  
of the following alternatives:

a) Pay someone to maintain Python 2 for them (it is open source)
b) Download and self maintain Python 2 (again it is open source code)
c) Do nothing and hope nothing breaks

Of course the wisdom of moving to Python 3 is the solution which is  
expected by the developers of Python and the impeller for Apple Corp  
to no longer make Python 2 a part of their operating system's default  
software amalgam. Apple is merely dropping support for Python 2  
because the developers of Python are dropping support for Python 2.

However, we are wise to again remember that the annunciation of a  
dropping of support for Python 2 by the Python project was made long,  
long, ago and should have surely been the cause of migration to Python  
3 by developers using Python 2, but alas, that has not occurred in  
many cases (not just in the instant case of Chirp).

Whilst I have great respect for Dan and appreciate and think very  
highly of Chirp and its capabilities, a development plan for migrating  
it to Python 3 (in my opinion granted, which you are welcome to ignore  
or discount) should have occurred many, many, many moons ago. For now,  
my suggested solution is to install VirtualBox on macOS (VirtualBox is  
free in cost and is open source, hence also free as in freedom) and  
install a distribution of Linux that is inclusive of Python 2.7 there  
within. You could choose to not update Python 2.7 (or uninstall it),  
and use Chirp in such an environment indefinitely. This solution has  
no monetary cost and would allow those interested parties to  
persistently use Chirp on a Macintosh via this virtualized  
environment. Moreover, I own a Macbook Pro that has VirtualBox already  
installed thereupon and will likely test this myself in the near  
future (I am thinking a CentOS minimum install with Python 2.7 and its  
requisite moving parts to make the current Chirp variant work).




Very Respectfully,

Stuart B. Tener
Computer Scientist / FCC Licensed Radio Operator


--

IT1 Stuart Blake Tener, USNR, N3GWG (Extra), MROP

Las Vegas, NV / Philadelphia, PA / Beverly Hills, CA

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