It’s Time to Upgrade to Python 3 – Time Is Running Out!

The Python community will sunset Python 2 on January 1, 2020.

How much time is left? Check out the handy clock at: https://pythonclock.org/.

How does this impact the Anaconda Distribution and the conda packages Anaconda builds?

As of January 1, 2020, Anaconda will no longer be adding new packages built for Python 2.7 to repo.anaconda.com default channels. The Python 2.7 packages available prior to that date will remain available.

This means, for instance, that if there is a newly released version of TensorFlow after the first of the new year – it will not be available in defaults for Python 2.7.

The one exception is that Python 2.7.18 is slated to be released in mid-April 2020 according to PEP-0373. Packages for Python 2.7.18 will be built and made available on the repo.anaconda.com defaults channel.

Any patching for CVEs done for Python 2.7 after January 1, 2020 will only be available to Anaconda Enterprise or Anaconda Professional Services customers.

We strongly recommend upgrading to Python 3 as soon as possible. Many open source projects have already stopped supporting Python 2: https://python3statement.org/.

Interested in migrating to Python 3? There are many handy tips in an Anaconda blog post from earlier this year as well as many other places like https://docs.python.org/3/howto/pyporting.html.