From an outsider's perspective, the rift between Python 2/3 that's been going on now for so many years indicates that the language has completely stalled and stopped as far as progress goes. I don't see any reason to pursue a dead language that can't resolve its own problems over the course of almost a decade. Think about what that says about the community! People talk about community in the abstract, but here is a concrete example of a divided community that cannot figure out how to move forward. And that's with a dictator leading it!

I can't think of anything holding people back more from trying and adopting Python for serious projects. Before you can even begin to play with the language, you're forced to make a choice that the most experienced Python developers cannot agree on. If that's not user unfriendly, I don't know what is. Note also that it doesn't matter if my perceptions are right or wrong. You can't expect a Python beginner to have good perceptions about something he has not learned. However, I've read enough information to know that making this decision is not easy, nor is it really doable for a beginner. If I'm going to consider Python as a language for my next project, I have to be able to evaluate it properly and the rift basically now forces me to treat Python as two separate, incompatible languages that have no opportunity to grow, change, or adapt for the future.

No thanks.