Re: Obsolete functions and variables

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@xemacs.org>]

Stefan Monnier writes:

 > Usually, we look at the obsolete vars&funs, select the really old ones
 > (e.g. the ones that are obsolete since 20.7 or maybe even 21.1) and then
 > check which of these can be safely removed.

FWIW Python has been successfully deprecating and removing identifiers
for about a decade.  They warn for maybe one or two release cycles
(ie, in an x.y.z scheme, from x.y.z to x.y+2.0), then the obsolete
name gets a one-way ticket to a senior community in Arizona.

However, they also support a full release cycle older than the current
release, plus security updates (source-only) for two release cycles
before that.