[$] Python and "dead" batteries

Python is, famously, a "batteries included" language; it comes with a rich
standard library right out of the box, which makes for a highly useful
starting point for everyone. But that does have some downsides as well. The
standard library modules are largely maintained by the CPython core
developers, which adds to their duties; the modules themselves are
subject to the CPython release schedule, which may be suboptimal. For
those reasons and others, there have been thoughts about retiring some
of the older modules; it is a topic that has come up several times over the
last year or so.