> not everyone has network access to install random pip packages

Lucky that the lack of network access will prevent these new versions of Python just as well.

Airgap install of Python is quite straightforward. I normally scp the Python source and altinstall on target server.

But airgap install of pip packages with myriad dependencies can be annoying.

So I agree with parent comment that having standard packages make things easier

They don’t provide more money. The PSF is mostly funded by PyCon( approximately $1 million) and they had to cancel one of them (also PyCon is run by volunteers. Also, it has lots of contributors who are volunteers. If people wanted these packages to remain someone needed to actually do the work in maintaining them.

Then they won’t be able to - and in any case won’t be forced to - install this new version of Python. This is silly. If we rejected any change because 3 people might have some farfetched problem, there would never be any progress.

The reality is that it’s acceptable for a few people in absurdly rare edge cases to have a bit of trouble, when it’s justified by much greater gain for everyone else.

There's an explanation in the PEP (linked a couple times already).