[Bf-python] Re:Python 2.4

[Ed Blake]

I think for most users the switch to Python 2.4 would be a non-event.  For
the few who care though it would be a minor inconvenience with some minor
payoffs.  As the people on this list know you need to compile packages
separately for each version of Python.  So when people switch from 2.3 to 2.4
they will need to re-download/re-compile all their existing Python libraries
if they want things to work correctly.  From the Python side they get faster
sets and heaps, integrated integers and long integers, and slightly better
interpreter performance.

The version dependence of the libraries is probably also the reason OSX
people can't easily upgrade.  Especially if their os uses python for anything
important.  As stated before though, on every other os you can fairly easily
install multiple versions side by side. 

For windows I recently downloaded all the libraries I need to upgrade to
Python 2.4.  It seems most of the popular Python libraries have released
versions for 2.4.  The only major exception I know of is Pygame which seems
to be unmaintained at the moment.