Today, Void Linux announced it is officially bidding farewell to Python 2. While Python 2 reached its end of life in 2020, the distro still depended on over 200 packages.
Now, thanks to the dedicated efforts of Void contributors who have updated, patched, or removed these packages, the distribution is ready to embrace Python 3 fully.
For the moment, Python 2 will remain in the Void’s repositories as python2, along with python2-setuptools and python2-pip. However, the python metapackage will soon point to Python 3, marking a definitive shift towards the modern language version.
This transition mirrors a broader trend in the Linux world. Python 2 is almost no longer used anymore and has been replaced by Python 3 in virtually all Linux distributions.
The primary reason is that Python 2 no longer receives updates or security patches, making it less secure and inefficient. Python 3, on the other hand, continues to evolve with new features and improvements, offering better performance and security.
One of Void Linux’s biggest hurdles in phasing out Python 2 was its own infrastructureโspecifically, the buildbot system responsible for building all user packages.
The team was stuck on Buildbot version 0.8.12, released in April 2015 and based on Python 2. Updating it to a modern version was complex due to its many moving parts and fragility.
Fortunately, the devs have overcome this obstacle by upgrading Buildbot to version 4.0. The new Buildbot is managed via Void’s orchestration system, Nomad, which improves deployment reliability, observability, and reproducibility.
For more information, refer to the official announcement. Additionally, visit the new Buildbot dashboard at build.voidlinux.org and watch the packages build.
