Gentoo Packages

We are planning to switch the default Python target of Gentoo systems on 2025-05-01, from Python 3.12 to Python 3.13. If you have not changed the values of PYTHON_TARGETS or PYTHON_SINGLE_TARGET, the change will have immediate effect on your system and the package manager will try to switch automatically on the next upgrade following the change.

If you did change the values, prefer a safer approach or have problems with the update, read on.

Please note that the default upgrade method switches packages to the new Python versions as they are rebuilt. This means that all interdependent packages have to support the new version for the upgrade to proceed, and that some programs may temporarily fail to find their dependencies throughout the upgrade (although programs that are already started are unlikely to be affected).



If you have PYTHON_TARGETS or PYTHON_SINGLE_TARGET declared in make.conf, please remove these declarations as they will interfere with the package.use samples provided below. Using make.conf for Python targets is discouraged as it prevents package defaults from applying when necessary. This news item assumes using /etc/portage/package.use or your package manager's equivalent file for configuration.



At this point, you have a few configuration options to choose from:

1. If you wish Python upgrades to apply automatically, you can remove

 PYTHON_TARGETS and PYTHON_SINGLE_TARGET declarations.  When
 the defaults change, your package manager should handle the upgrade
 automatically.  However, you may still need to run the update
 commands if any problems arise.

2. If you wish to defer the upgrade for the time being, you can

 explicitly set the old values in package.use.

3. If you wish to force the upgrade earlier, you can explicitly set

 the new values and run the upgrade commands.

4. If you wish to use a safer approach (i.e. less likely to temporarily

 break packages during the upgrade), you can perform a multi-step
 upgrade as outlined below.

5. Finally, you can use an arbitrary combination of PYTHON_TARGETS

 and PYTHON_SINGLE_TARGET.

Deferring the upgrade ===================== To defer the upgrade, explicitly set the old targets:

  */* PYTHON_TARGETS: -* python3_12
  */* PYTHON_SINGLE_TARGET: -* python3_12

This will enforce Python 3.12 and block any future updates. However, please note that this is only a temporary solution and you will eventually need to perform the migration.



Forcing the upgrade =================== To force the upgrade earlier, explicitly select the Python 3.13 targets:

  */* PYTHON_TARGETS: -* python3_13
  */* PYTHON_SINGLE_TARGET: -* python3_13

However, it is important to remember to remove this after the defaults change, as it will interfere with the automatic switch to the next Python version in the future.



Safer upgrade procedure ======================= A safer approach is to add Python 3.13 support to your system first, and only then remove Python 3.12. However, note that this involves two rebuilds of all the affected packages, so it will take noticeably longer.

First, enable both Python 3.12 and Python 3.13, and then run the upgrade commands:

  */* PYTHON_TARGETS: -* python3_12 python3_13
  */* PYTHON_SINGLE_TARGET: -* python3_12

Then switch PYTHON_SINGLE_TARGET and run the second batch of upgrades:

  */* PYTHON_TARGETS: -* python3_12 python3_13
  */* PYTHON_SINGLE_TARGET: -* python3_13

Finally, switch to the final version and upgrade:

  */* PYTHON_TARGETS: -* python3_13
  */* PYTHON_SINGLE_TARGET: -* python3_13

You may wish to remove the target overrides after the defaults switch. Alternatively, you can keep them to block the next automatic upgrade to Python 3.14, and upgrade manually then.



Upgrade commands ================ The Python 3.12 cleanup requires that Python 3.12 is removed from the complete dependency trees in batch. If some of the installed packages using an older Python version are not triaged for the upgrade, the package manager will throw dependency conflicts. This makes it important that the upgrade is carried via a --deep --changed-use @world upgrade, as well as that any stray packages are removed prior to it, e.g.:

  emerge --depclean
  emerge -1vUD @world
  emerge --depclean

Other Python implementations ============================ At the same time, we are also going to remove the target support for Python 3.10 (python3_10) and PyPy 3.10 (pypy3). If you were using the pypy3 target before, now you will need to explicitly enable per-version targets, such as:

  */* PYTHON_TARGETS: pypy3_11

Note that PyPy support is available only for systems accepting ~arch keywords.