Synapse: Deprecating Postgres 9.4 and Python 2.x

TL;DR DON'T PANIC - Synapse 1.0 will support Postgres 9.4 and Python 2.7

Folks, this is an update to explain that we will be shortly deprecating Synapse support for Postgres 9.4 and Python 2.x.

What are we doing?

From the dates described below, we will no longer guarantee support for deprecated versions. This means that Synapse may continue to work with these versions but we will not make any attempt to ensure compatibility and will remove old library versions from our CI.

When is this happening?

Synapse 1.0 will continue to support both technologies, but subsequent releases may not:-

For Python, we shared that we would discontinue to Python 2.x support from April 1st 2019, so for the first release that follows 1.0 we do not guarantee Python 2.x support.

For Postgres, will give server admins 6 weeks to upgrade to a newer version, and will guarantee support up until 20th May 2019.

Why would you do this to us?

We have multiple reasons, but broadly:-

• We want to make use of new language features not supported in old versions. This will enable us to continue to improve the performance and maintainability of Synapse.
• Python 2.x overall will be end of life'd at the end of the year. Postgres 9.4's final release will follow 2 months later on 13th February 2020.
• Since very few server admins still use these technologies on the wild, providing support is costly and we want to reduce our overall maintenance load.

La la la I am ignoring you - what will happen?

You will be able to upgrade to Synapse 1.0, but will likely experience incompatibilities that prevent you upgrading further. Seriously, you really need to upgrade.

Okay, but I have questions, where should I go?

Come and say Hi in #synapse:matrix.org and we'll do our best to help you.