From 2612b47c3fbad195f79efa6188b7ea483f276aeb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Andrew Johnson Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2025 17:13:21 -0600 Subject: [PATCH] Release Notes for PYTHON=python3 --- documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.md | 18 ++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 18 insertions(+) diff --git a/documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.md b/documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.md index ce4088385..236b562d9 100644 --- a/documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.md +++ b/documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.md @@ -22,6 +22,24 @@ should also be read to understand what has changed since earlier releases: ## Changes made on the 7.0 branch since 7.0.8.1 +### Build system `$(PYTHON)` default changed + +The default value of the build system's `$(PYTHON)` variable has changed from +`python` to `python3`, in line with many recent OS installations' removal of +the `python` binary after Python 2 support ended. +This change may affect EPICS support modules which run Python scripts at +build-time that haven't yet been converted to Python 3. +If needed, the value can be overridden in a `configure/CONFIG_SITE.local` file, +either in Base or in the specific module. + +This variable was added in EPICS 7.0.3.1 and only used by Base when configured +with `LINKER_USE_RPATH=ORIGIN`. +That configuration now runs a Perl translation of the original script, so +Python is not required to build Base. + +EPICS developers working on documentation may need to point `PYTHON` to a +Pythons venv that has the additional packages needed to run Sphinx. + ### Post monitors from compress record when it's reset Writing into a compress record's `RES` field now posts a monitor event instead