Mailing List Archive

[Release] Status of Python 3.11 release
Hi everyone,

# TLDR

We may be pushing the final release until December if the stability of
Python 3.11 doesn't improve.

# Long Explanation

Unfortunately, we cannot still release the next Python 3.11 beta release
(3.11.0b4) because we still have a bunch
of pending release blockers. Unfortunately, this is still after several
preexisting release blockers have been fixed,
some of them being discovered after I sent my last update. These are the
current release blockers:

https://github.com/python/cpython/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+sort%3Aupdated-desc+label%3Arelease-blocker+label%3A3.11+

We also have some deferred blockers (some of them should actually be
release blockers):

https://github.com/python/cpython/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+sort%3Aupdated-desc+label%3Adeferred-blocker+label%3A3.11

Due to this and the fact that we are already 3 weeks delayed in the release
schedule, the current stability of Python 3.11 is not as good
as it is supposed to be at this stage of the release schedule and more
testing from end-users and library authors is required. After
discussing with the Steering Council, we are considering delaying the final
release until December to allow for two more beta releases.
This is how we are going to proceed:

* If the current release blockers are not fixed by the end of this week,
two more betas will be released (1 month per beta) and
we will *definitely* delay the final release until December.
* If the current release blockers are fixed we will proceed to release
Python 3.11.0b4 on Monday. We will target the current release
date (Monday, 2022-10-03) but if more release blockers that affect
fundamental parts of the Python interpreter or the standard libraries
are raised, the release team will still consider adding two more betas nd
pushing the final release to December.

One of the goals that we are going to try to achieve from the release team
is that no substantial code changes are added between the last
beta and the first release candidate. This is so all the fixes that affect
fundamental parts of the interpreter or the standard library can be
tested by end-users before the first release candidate is released (and not
with it). This is also partially because once we release the first release
candidate, the ABI will be frozen and certain kinds of fixes will be more
complicated.

Hopefully, this addresses some of you that have reached out with concerns
over the stability of Python 3.11 and the release schedule.

I understand that delaying the release until December will complicate
things for some Linux distributions and will affect end users and
redistributors
targeting the original release, but please understand that our
responsibility in the release team after all is to guarantee a stable final
release
above all and unfortunately, we don't currently have the confidence that we
would like given the current state of the release process.

Please do not hesitate in reaching out if you have any questions or
concerns.

Thanks, everyone for your help and understanding and thanks a lot to all of
you for your great work!

Cheers from cloudy London,
Pablo Galindo Salgado