Python 3 is much more than a version number increment. Newbies are advised to use Py2 only because there are more libraries available for 2, and newbies are more likely to need more libraries. This is changing slowly but surely as more libraries go to 3.
2.7 is the last major release in the Py2 line. It's all Py3 from here on out, so people are starting to take Py3 seriously, as they rightly should. Python 3 is now the default distribution in Arch Linux and other bleeding-edge distros will be following soon. I'm kind of disappointed the major shift didn't start happening earlier, though the long cycle was to be expected.
"Stable" and "production-ready" Python 3 releases have been out for about two years now, by the way, so this definitely isn't a case of everyone jumping over just for a higher version number, and Python 3 has been "battle tested" for a while. I'm sure as the real heavyweights like Scipy start seeing real Py3 usage, cpython3 will get a lot of fixes and improvements.
We're just starting to hit "conversion critical mass" where everyone is beginning to see it's important to upgrade Py3 soon. I would guess in the next year most major projects will have ports underway if not completed, so the Python world will be undergoing a major transition this year, which may complicate things for a while but is for the long-term good of the community. :)
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Python 3 is much more than a version number increment. Newbies are advised to use Py2 only because there are more libraries available for 2, and newbies are more likely to need more libraries. This is changing slowly but surely as more libraries go to 3.
2.7 is the last major release in the Py2 line. It's all Py3 from here on out, so people are starting to take Py3 seriously, as they rightly should. Python 3 is now the default distribution in Arch Linux and other bleeding-edge distros will be following soon. I'm kind of disappointed the major shift didn't start happening earlier, though the long cycle was to be expected.
"Stable" and "production-ready" Python 3 releases have been out for about two years now, by the way, so this definitely isn't a case of everyone jumping over just for a higher version number, and Python 3 has been "battle tested" for a while. I'm sure as the real heavyweights like Scipy start seeing real Py3 usage, cpython3 will get a lot of fixes and improvements.
We're just starting to hit "conversion critical mass" where everyone is beginning to see it's important to upgrade Py3 soon. I would guess in the next year most major projects will have ports underway if not completed, so the Python world will be undergoing a major transition this year, which may complicate things for a while but is for the long-term good of the community. :)