Python 3.9 EOL accepted for build in main branch

[MikeMcC399]

Version

main branch f9f343f

Platform

Generic Unix

Subsystem

build

Expected behavior

The Node.js main branch and future release lines should not accept Python version 3.9 in the configure shell script.

BUILDING.md > Unix prerequisites document section contains the requirement text:

• A supported version of Python
  * For test coverage, your Python installation must include pip.

Python released versions, listed as supported by the Python organization, range from Python 3.14 down to Python 3.10.

Python version 3.9 reached end of life transition recently and is therefore no longer supported:

Python version	End of life
3.9	2025-10-31

Instead

Branch	Shell script	Allows Python
main	configure	>=3.9 <=3.14

Related

Follows on from #60918

Any change should not be backported to release lines to avoid breaking compatibility of existing releases.

[marco-ippolito]

It's a semver major change but lets do it, PR welcome

[MikeMcC399]

@marco-ippolito

It's a semver major change but lets do it, PR welcome

Judging by the difficulties encountered by #55239, that dropped support for Python 3.8, it may be wise for somebody with previous experience to be submitting the related PR to drop support for Python 3.9.