Python ABIs and PEP 703

[colesbury (Sam Gross)]

@brettcannon

So old versions of pip today will consider any abi3 usage for the version of Python being installed for and older as being compatible

I don’t think we should worry too much about whether old versions of pip work properly for the experimental, --disable-gil build of CPython 3.13. As it is, old versions of pip frequently do not work with new versions of Python. For example, pip==23.1.1 and older (from just 5 months ago) will break if installed in CPython 3.13 (missing pkgutil.ImpImporter).

@encukou

Hers’s the situation I’d like to get:

1. 3.13-abi3 doesn’t use ob_refcnt directly. That was changed to use a function call in 3.12. If we can make abi4 work with GIL and --disable-gil then we can probably do the same for 3.13-abi3.
2. You don’t state it explicitly, but I guess the idea is that refcounting in abi4 could use the older Py_IncRef function call, which is available in CPython 3.8.

@encukou

PyModuleDef, is a PyObject which will cause some trouble for abi4

Ooof, I’m not sure how to address PyModuleDef.