Upcoming cassandra-driver release and removal of support for Python 2.7.x

[Bret McGuire]

   Greetings all!

   It's been some time since our last release of the Python cassandra-driver package.  We have had a number of fixes merged since the last release, however, and I'd like to get those fixes out into the world where they can do some good.  With that in mind we're planning for a new release in the not-too-distant future.  This release will largely consist of what's already been merged, although we may have a few features left to add.  I'll publish a message on this channel when the new version has been released.

   One additional change will be coming with this release: we will no longer be supporting Python 2.7.x.  Yes, the transition to Python3 was fun but we're there now; the last ever release of Python 2.7 (2.7.18) was released over two years ago.  We have additional work slated to bring the driver up to speed with newer 3.x versions (see PYTHON-1283 for more on that) but that work will follow later.

   Thanks everyone!

  - Bret -