Discussion:
stressing problem with Python < 3.3.3 / 2.7.6 and Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks
Wolfgang Maier
2014-10-14 19:52:39 UTC
Permalink
Hi,

I'm not a regular MacPython user, but today I had to build Mac wheels
for different versions of Python. To test the wheel files I set up a
fresh Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks and and installed Python 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 from
the python.org download page on it. Then I struggled for the rest of the
afternoon to try to figure out why Python 3.2 crashed when I used my
package in interactive mode until I finally realized that it's not the
package but Python that's responsible.

Turns out that I had run into http://bugs.python.org/issue18458 which
probably every MacPython user here is so familiar with that the download
page doesn't even mention it ? ;)

Seriously, I think the official download page for a OS shouldn't offer
me a version that will not work well with the latest version of that OS
without a warning. Why not add such a warning (like: versions below will
crash in interactive mode on Mac OS 10.9) in the list of downloads at
https://www.python.org/downloads/mac-osx/ between Python 2.7.6 (the
first version with the issue fixed) and Python 3.2.5 (the last affected
version).

Wolfgang
Ned Deily
2014-10-14 20:30:08 UTC
Permalink
In article <m1juu7$tmn$1 at ger.gmane.org>,
Post by Wolfgang Maier
I'm not a regular MacPython user, but today I had to build Mac wheels
for different versions of Python. To test the wheel files I set up a
fresh Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks and and installed Python 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 from
the python.org download page on it. Then I struggled for the rest of the
afternoon to try to figure out why Python 3.2 crashed when I used my
package in interactive mode until I finally realized that it's not the
package but Python that's responsible.
Turns out that I had run into http://bugs.python.org/issue18458 which
probably every MacPython user here is so familiar with that the download
page doesn't even mention it ? ;)
Seriously, I think the official download page for a OS shouldn't offer
me a version that will not work well with the latest version of that OS
without a warning. Why not add such a warning (like: versions below will
crash in interactive mode on Mac OS 10.9) in the list of downloads at
https://www.python.org/downloads/mac-osx/ between Python 2.7.6 (the
first version with the issue fixed) and Python 3.2.5 (the last affected
version).
Sorry you ran into that problem. Unfortunately, that's a general
problem when using older versions of Python that are in
security-fix-only mode, e.g. those no longer in active maintenance mode.
Currently only 3.2.x and 3.3.x are in that category.

"The only changes made to a security branch are those fixing issues
exploitable by attackers such as crashes, privilege escalation and,
optionally, other issues such as denial of service attacks. Any other
changes are not considered a security risk and thus not backported to a
security branch."

https://docs.python.org/devguide/devcycle.html#security-branches

Fixes for new operating system releases do not fall in this category.
There are certainly other problems that one will run into on platform
releases newer than those supported and tested at the time of the final
maintenance release. However, we did add a warning about this
particular issue to the release page of the final security release of
2.6.x. That warning is now copied into the 3.2.6 release page.

In the future, if you encounter problems with the python.org website,
follow the Help link at the bottom of each page to the website issue
tracker.
--
Ned Deily,
nad at acm.org
Wolfgang Maier
2014-10-14 20:53:36 UTC
Permalink
Post by Ned Deily
In article <m1juu7$tmn$1 at ger.gmane.org>,
Post by Wolfgang Maier
I'm not a regular MacPython user, but today I had to build Mac wheels
for different versions of Python. To test the wheel files I set up a
fresh Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks and and installed Python 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 from
the python.org download page on it. Then I struggled for the rest of the
afternoon to try to figure out why Python 3.2 crashed when I used my
package in interactive mode until I finally realized that it's not the
package but Python that's responsible.
Turns out that I had run into http://bugs.python.org/issue18458 which
probably every MacPython user here is so familiar with that the download
page doesn't even mention it ? ;)
Seriously, I think the official download page for a OS shouldn't offer
me a version that will not work well with the latest version of that OS
without a warning. Why not add such a warning (like: versions below will
crash in interactive mode on Mac OS 10.9) in the list of downloads at
https://www.python.org/downloads/mac-osx/ between Python 2.7.6 (the
first version with the issue fixed) and Python 3.2.5 (the last affected
version).
Sorry you ran into that problem. Unfortunately, that's a general
problem when using older versions of Python that are in
security-fix-only mode, e.g. those no longer in active maintenance mode.
Currently only 3.2.x and 3.3.x are in that category.
"The only changes made to a security branch are those fixing issues
exploitable by attackers such as crashes, privilege escalation and,
optionally, other issues such as denial of service attacks. Any other
changes are not considered a security risk and thus not backported to a
security branch."
https://docs.python.org/devguide/devcycle.html#security-branches
Fixes for new operating system releases do not fall in this category.
There are certainly other problems that one will run into on platform
releases newer than those supported and tested at the time of the final
maintenance release. However, we did add a warning about this
particular issue to the release page of the final security release of
2.6.x. That warning is now copied into the 3.2.6 release page.
Thanks for the fast response, Ned.

I fully understand how the issue arose and why it hasn't been fixed. No
complaints about that.
I just thought that, if you cannot use the interactive interpreter on a
standard version of the OS you're downloading for, that deserves a
prominent mention.

The added warning in the 3.2.6 release page may have saved me a bit of
searching *after* I figured out what's going on, but I wouldn't have
discovered it *before* downloading.
Post by Ned Deily
In the future, if you encounter problems with the python.org website,
follow the Help link at the bottom of each page to the website issue
tracker.
Thanks for pointing that out. I thought such a link must exist, but
posting to this list seemed simpler than looking for it. I'll remember
it for next time.

Best,
Wolfgang

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