[wruza]

Could you point to any specific major breaking changes between 3.x releases?

I can not, but I can tell you that anything AI often requires finding a proper combination of python + cuXXX + some library. And while I understand cu-implications, for some reason python version is also in this formula.

I literally have four python versions installed and removed from PATH, because if I delete 3.9-3.11, they will be needed next day again and there’s no meaningful default.

[holdenweb]

They'll all co-exist. Add them all to your PATH, make one the default python3, and request specific versions when they are required.

[wruza]

I don't need the default, because which python to choose depends on project's dependencies which may work only for specific versions. And then you build a venv and it lives there. It's not some safety measure, it's a natural choice. I don't need bare `python` command outside of venv.

That said, 3.12 doesn't even have python312.exe in its folder. If 3.13 follows, having both of them in PATH is useless.

[dagmx]

Those are ABI changes and not changes to the language.

[wruza]

If these were just ABI changes, packagers would simply re-package under a new ABI. Instead they specify ranges of versions in which "it works". The upper end often doesn't include the last python version and may be specified as "up to 3.x.y" even.

Sure I'm not that knowledgeable in this topic (in python). But you're telling me they go to the lengths of supporting e.g. 3.9-3.11.2, but out of lazyness won't just compile it to 3.12?

I can only hypothesize that 3.9-3.xxx had the same ABI and they don't support multiple ABIs out of principle, but that sounds like a very strange idea.