On Fri, Feb 23, 2018 at 06:27:30PM +0100, zimoun wrote:
> I am asking if this behaviour is expected or if I miss something.
> 
> The command:
> 
>  guix package -i python
> 
> installs the python3 version and there is no python in .guix-profile/bin/.
> 
> And in another profile `guix package -i python@2' installs the python2
> and there is python in profile/bin/.
> 
> 
> To me, it is counter-intuitive. What is the reason ?
> And there is not any, since python 2 is dying, I suggest that python
> points to python3 and not python2.

The recommendation by the CPython team, expressed in their build
scripts, is to install Python 3 as `python3`, and we try to follow
upstream as closely as we can. I'd guess their reason is long-term
compatibility with existing Python software that assumes `python` is
Python 2.

We offer Python 3 as `python` in the special package python-wrapper.

In general, Guix does default to Python 3. If you want to use Python 2
in a package or profile, you have to specify it. Otherwise, using the
package named 'python' will give you Python 3. If there are several
versions of a Guix package with the same name, Guix uses the latest
version by default.