---
# System prepended metadata

title: DIALS core meeting 2020-07-31
tags: [core meeting]

---

---
name: DIALS core meeting 2020-07-31
tags: core meeting
---

# DIALS core meeting 2020-07-31

## Previous Actions

* [ ] ND: rewrite contribution guidelines (as PR) to include towncrier/newsfragments
* [x] GW: ask cctbx-bb who uses Python 2 development environment
* [x] MG: set up next meeting in 'few weeks time'

## Agenda
1.	Python 3.6 deprecation proposal / [NEP-29](https://numpy.org/neps/nep-0029-deprecation_policy.html) / [dials#1327](https://github.com/dials/dials/issues/1327)
    * We agreed that we have an understanding of the problem
    * We will follow 1327
    * **[Action]** GW to write comment on issue
2.	Moving to Python 3.8 as the next default, skipping 3.7 (cf. [#1328-comment](https://github.com/dials/dials/pull/1328#issuecomment-655812577))
    * DW suggests retaining backwards-compatibility (for CCP4)
    * ND suggests build server to 3.7, default to 3.8
    * GW: In a PR-guided workflow environment we run testing on all platforms via Azure anyway, so likely a non-problem?
    * Development platform is independent of supported versions. Those will include conda-forge-supported versions at the minimum.
    * xia2 currently has issues with 3.8, but those should be fixable easily. **[Action]** MG to fix
3.	Overall architecture discussion - full conda or alternatives?
    * move from libtbx dispatchers to normal python dispatchers
    * allow regular python commands access to the libtbx-modules namespaces
    * bigger issue, needs more discussion and figuring out how to do this and how to migrate
4.	Following from that: How should a new installer look like
    * Deferred as ND not in meeting
5.  Open up these DIALS core meetings to DIALS-W and the world in an effort to [move DIALS towards a stage 3 project](http:/urssi.us/blog/2019/02/25/software-incubator-workshop-a-synthesis/)
    * Invite to meetings in dials-support and gitter
    * Change time to later in the day
    * Make meeting minutes public
6.  DIALS master stable / [dials#1353](https://github.com/dials/dials/issues/1353)
    * Currently evaluating on xia2
    * How would we distinguish with pull requests that should be reviewed and pull requests that can be merged as soon as the tests have passed?
        * MG: labels may be an option? GitHub plans to introduce an auto-merge feature for pull requests later this year. We could probably do this right now using github actions.
        * GW: pull requests can be moved to draft status to express "hang fire, I would like to look at"
    * Fundamentally it's possible that tests fail because of an upstream repository change (eg. cctbx/scitbx/constants breaking xia2)

