Platform Development • Re: I created a Python 3 port of UXP out of boredom...

If you're testing multiple Python versions [...]

Personally I haven't gotten to the point that I'd have to thoroughly test multiple versions. For my own needs (using Linux Mint 19.2 Cinnamon x64) the default Python 3.6 usually is enough, all my scripts use it. However I do ocasionally stumble into certain additional modules that would make life easier, and which unfortunately require higher Python versions. Using basic/default (internal) Python modules for certain tasks may be tedious. In some cases I do attempt to test some script in higher Python versions (I do have minimal 3.7, 3.8, and 3.12 installed along with default 3.6) just to see how it would behave in other (newer) systems, but I simply call the particular version I want through script's shebang (i.e #!/usr/bin/env python3.12); dunno how that would work in Windows or MacOS though . For some reason I never fancied the idea of a virtual environment (which is why I also stay away from AppImage and Flatpak). That's why I find it kinda difficult to set up, and would like the easiest way possible to set up UXP/Pale Moon (and/or whatever else using the UXP platform). Using additional symlinks might [theoretically] prove problematic for other applications if they scan those locations for Python executables.

But if you say an old[er] version of Python3 would be more than enough for the long run then I (and other users of older systems) shouldn't be worried. After all Python2 has been perfectly suitable so far, and only its recent demise from newer systems (due to its official deprecation) makes this switch to Python3 necessary. I do realize though that newer Python3 versions have become increasingly difficult to use, especially due to the mandatory use of virtual environments instead of allowing the installation of additional modules or updating original ones system-wide. Hopefully it won't be very challenging to get these newer versions to work while keeping compatibility with older versions, in UXP.

Keep up the good work!