Re: docs: requirements.txt has stopped working again

[Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>]

Vegard Nossum <vegard.nossum@oracle.com> writes:

> It makes sense when those ancient versions build our docs just fine and
> run MUCH faster too. Here was my proposal, more specifically:
>
> 1) requirements.txt : take out all the version constraints so it will
> just use the latest versions of everything (unless there are issues with
> those) -- this is what I think Akira/Jon/you really want

Yes, this is what I would do.

> 2) requirements-2.4.4.txt : create this file and add and freeze ALL the
> sphinx dependencies at specific versions that make 2.4.4 work --
> freezing everything means we should never really need to touch this file
> again

I don't believe you'll ever get to a point where it never breaks; that's
a *lot* of dependencies to track down.

I don't think it's worth it.  The number of people who *really* want to
build with a 2.4.4 system is, I believe, quite small; they may all be
copied on this email.  It is enough of a niche thing at this point that,
I think, we should not go to great lengths to support it.  Perhaps
somebody can contribute a document for folks who really want to do it.

> 3) add a warning when building using slow sphinx versions, perhaps
> encouraging people with these slow versions to use
> requirements-2.4.4.txt with a virtualenv.
>
> I think this ticks all the boxes:
>
> - No more whack-a-mole (since requirements.txt would have no bounds to
> update, and requirements-2.4.4.txt would have everything frozen)
>
> - Doesn't raise the minimum version unnecessarily for people who would
> still like to use the older and faster version.

I'm happy to not break 2.4.4 for now, though I suspect that day may
come.  But I think directing people toward such an old version is not
going to lead to long-term joy; for better or for worse, Sphinx has
moved on.

jon