Languages and toolchains, 12 November 2026

Python marked the death of Tim Peters, while Git, Go, and glibc moved on several memory-safety and code-execution fixes. LLVM debated limits on open pull requests, and Swift continued a pitch for called-once function types.

Tim Peters, 1952 to 2026

Guido van Rossum announced the death of Tim Peters on the Python discussion forum. Thirty tributes from 29 participants recalled his foundational role in Python's design, the Zen of Python, and the tone of the community.

Git 2.56.1 and related maintenance releases

The Git project announced coordinated maintenance releases, including Git 2.56.1, that fix six CVEs. One of the issues is a ref-backend path traversal involving an unborn HEAD.

Go link-time code execution via crafted object files

The Go project fixed arbitrary code execution at link time from crafted .syso files and cgo linker input files (issue 82572). The fix validates binary objects before they reach the linker.

Git patches for settings given without a value

A 15-patch series on the Git mailing list fixes NULL dereferences and segfaults across about 15 configuration keys when a setting is given without a value. The thread ran to 67 messages from six participants.

Glibc wide scanf out-of-bounds write

A glibc patch fixes an out-of-bounds write in wide scanf for the %s and %[ conversions, caused by a double null terminator (BZ 34989, CVE-2026-115819).

LLVM proposal to limit open pull requests

An RFC on the LLVM forum proposes open pull-request limits for non-committers, aimed at floods of AI-generated patches and the maintainer load they create. The discussion drew 44 messages from 32 participants.

Glibc double free in regcomp and regexec

A glibc patch fixes a double free after an allocation failure in regcomp and regexec (BZ 34991, CVE-2026-100290). The change has been reviewed and ported to Gnulib.

Swift pitch for called-once function types

A second pitch on the Swift forums proposes @once and @atMostOnce function types so closures can hold noncopyable and non-Sendable values. The thread has 38 messages from 11 participants.