Python 2.3 release candidate 1

[Jeremy Hylton]

I am very happy to announce the release of Python 2.3 release candidate
1. The python-dev crew has fixed almost 50 bugs since the beta release
last month. You can find the downloads at the usual place:
http://www.python.org/2.3/

All major reported bugs have been fixed for this release. If we do not
discover any major bugs in the next week, we will re-release this code
as Python 2.3 final. We encourage potential users of Python 2.3 to try
the release candidate with their programs and report any bugs as soon as
possible.

To report a new bug, use the SourceForge bug tracker
http://sourceforge.net/bugs/?func=addbug&group_id=5470

This release of Python does not have any big changes, but it does
have many small changes that improve the libraries, fix bugs, and
increase stability. According to some simple benchmarks, Python 2.3
is 25-30% faster than Python 2.2.3. There are about 15 new or
significantly revised standard library modules, and a few new
builtins.

Andrew Kuchling's What's New in Python 2.3 describes the most visible
changes since Python 2.2 in more detail:
http://www.python.org/doc/2.3c1/whatsnew/

Have fun!
-- Jeremy Hylton <http://www.python.org/~jeremy/>