What are the hard reasons for still having default Python version 3.9?

[getopt]

On FreeBSD broken py39-ports are piling up because upstream does support Python >=3.10.

The reasons may vary, but obviously Python port maintainers are struggling on some hard problems. Linux does not have such severe problems with Python.

Why has FreeBSD so big problems providing actual Python ports?
I'm about to migrate away from FreeBSD as this breaks my work more and more and waiting for Python 3.10 may need to wait until 3.9 end-of-life (EOL) at 05 Oct 2025.

 

[Holger]

”Linux does not have such severe problems with Python”

Maybe because Linux Distributions do not care much about long-term stability?

We're talking here 3.9 versus 3.10. Not 3.9 versus 7.12, or something. Just minor version upgrade. However, somehow Python always manages to integrate breaking changes into minor version upgrades.

 

[garry]

When I read about Python; about generators and objects (every string is an object!) and other high-level constructs I love python. When I put hand to plow and try to use anything written in python and I have to resort to pip (a complex ugly package manager) or in any way have to concern myself with the "latest incompatible" minor update of python -- I hate python.

It's notable that Linux developers favor programming languages (python and rust for example) for which there is no standard definition and which invent new features with every minor release. I can't blame FreeBSD port maintainers for not keeping up with that. They do well enough for me and, in fact, I appreciate them absorbing some of the momentum to allow python-using software in FreeBSD to keep working.