Merge pull request actions#210 from MaksimZhukov/add-support-policy

marko-zivic-93 · web-flow · commit f99915cae13d · 2022-12-16T09:27:33.000+01:00
Add support policy
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -4,13 +4,22 @@ File [versions-manifest.json](./versions-manifest.json) contains the list of ava
 
 > Caution: this is prepared for and only permitted for use by actions `runner-images` and `setup-python` action.
 
-**Status**: Currently under development and in use for beta and preview actions.  This repo is undergoing rapid changes.
-
 Some versions are pre-installed on [runner-images](https://github.com/actions/runner-images) images.
-More versions will (soon!) be available to install on-the-fly through the [`setup-python`](https://github.com/actions/setup-python) action.
+More versions are available to install on-the-fly through the [`setup-python`](https://github.com/actions/setup-python) action.
+
+## Building installation packages
+**Ubuntu:** The official Python sources are downloaded from [python.org](https://www.python.org/ftp/python/), built using the `make` tool, and archived along with the installation script for further distribution and installation. We build each Python version against all [versions of Ubuntu](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-github-hosted-runners/about-github-hosted-runners#supported-runners-and-hardware-resources) that are available at the time the Python version is released.
+
+**macOS:** 
+- For **Python < 3.11**, the official Python sources are downloaded from [python.org](https://www.python.org/ftp/python/), built using the `make` tool, and archived along with the installation script for further distribution and installation.  For backward compatibility, we build each Python version against the oldest [version of macOS](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-github-hosted-runners/about-github-hosted-runners#supported-runners-and-hardware-resources) that is available at the time the Python version is released.
+- For **Python >= 3.11**, the official macOS `universal2` Python binaries are simply downloaded from [python.org](https://www.python.org/ftp/python/) and archived along with the installation script for further distribution and installation.
+
+**Windows:** The official Python executables are simply downloaded from [python.org](https://www.python.org/ftp/python/) and archived along with the installation script for further distribution and installation.
+
+## Support policy
+We aim to make new versions of Python available as soon as they are released. Both stable and prerelease versions are considered for building and releasing. Please open an issue in [actions/setup-python](https://github.com/actions/setup-python) if a version you're looking for isn't available.
 
-## Adding new versions
-We are trying to build and release new versions of Python as soon as they are released. Please open an issue in [actions/setup-python](https://github.com/actions/setup-python/issues) if any versions are missing.
+When a new version of an operating system is released and made available for use with [GitHub hosted runners](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-github-hosted-runners/about-github-hosted-runners#supported-runners-and-hardware-resources), we will provide the **latest existing patch versions of Python for all major versions that have not reached [end-of-life](https://devguide.python.org/versions/)**.  Any subsequent Python versions will be made available for the new OS as well.
 
 ## Contribution
 Contributions are welcome! See [Contributor's Guide](./CONTRIBUTING.md) for more details about contribution process and code structure
