On 2024-05-18, Mats Wichmann via Python-list <python-list@python.org> wrote:
> Distros have do offer a good selection of packaged Python bits, yes, but > only for the version of Python that's "native" to that distro release. > If you need to test other versions of Python, you're mostly on your own. For a few years I needed both 2.x and 3.x installed, but my distro (Gentoo) handled that fine (I think most others do also). Gentoo also allows multiple minor versions to be installed (currently I have 3.11 and 3.12 on this machine). But, since Gentoo is a source-based meta-distro, when I install a Python package, the package manager knows how to install it for all installed Python versions that are supported by the package. I can't think of why I would need a venv unless I needed to test something with a Python version that isn't available for Gentoo. That said, there are currently 7 versions available (2.7.18, 3.8.19, 3.9.19, 3.10.14, 3.11.9, 3.12.3, 3.13.0). 3.13 isn't marked stable yet in the Gentoo package database, and I apparently have some Python app/package installed that doesn't yet support 3.12, so I've currently got both 3.12 and 3.11. -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
