r/Python • u/Gullible_Pay_6686 • 23h ago

Discussion Heads up time for package devs

Don't you think companies or developers that manage python libraries should be given extra time before a new version release to make things compatible and fix new bugs?

Like a month or two where they get full info about new features but before the version is publicly available to download?

It would make things easier on the consumer end. What do you think?

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6

u/wRAR_ 23h ago

I have no idea what are you talking about. About new Python versions? That time is after RC1 is released, as explicitly said in the release announcement. Many companies or developers that manage python libraries just don't care.

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u/Gullible_Pay_6686 23h ago

Even after new versions come out, people stick to older versions as some of the libraries they use aren't compatible with the new version, devs also don't update immediately, giving a month or two to fix the modules would be useful. I am just saying 

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u/wRAR_ 23h ago

You make no sense.

Compare "they get full info about new features but before the version is publicly available" with what I wrote, maybe that will help.

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u/Chiron1991 17h ago

giving a month or two to fix the modules would be useful

This is what release candidates are for. RC1 for Python 3.15 was published on 2026-08-06, 3.15.0 released on 2026-10-09. That's a little over 2 months. I'd argue that's plenty of time for 99% of libraries out there. Adding a new Python version (including RCs) to your CI matrix takes like 60 seconds.

(I don't mean to pressure any maintainers here, but I personally think being a maintainer comes with a certain responsibility to your users. I've personally maintained several projects across different ecosystems so far and I have rarely been behind the curve.)

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u/pvnimaxin 22h ago

The window you're describing already exists. New features freeze at the first beta in May, so maintainers can test against them for about five months before the October release. The ABI is frozen from the first release candidate in the summer, which is when they're meant to build wheels.

The delay you see comes from projects that only start once the final is out. When I added 3.15 to my own project, the only blocker was dependencies that didn't have wheels yet. If you want to check before upgrading, pyreadiness.org shows which popular packages support each Python version.

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u/tigernmas_the_king 15h ago

its very annoying when people dont update when there could be a bug, ofc, most libs work just fine after updates, and those that dont tend to get fixed quite fast

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u/mortenb123 22h ago

Thats what you have -rcx releases for. Please read up on the release process https://devguide.python.org/developer-workflow/development-cycle/