It was so long but python 2.6 is now in Gentoo stable, here is how to upgrade.

First emerge --sync your ports tree (as of 31st July 2009).

Then update your ports emerge -upvD world remove -p when ready.

When emerging python-2.6.2 it will become the main python, as you can see with eselect python list.

So you only have to rebuild every ports that rely on python, simple ? Yes with python-update

Just run python-update It will run all the needed emerge for you (40 ports on my server)

 

Remove the old python version(s) with emerge --prune python (Note that removal is not mandatory, old python interpreter could coexists).

Run revdep-rebuild to be sure there is no remaining tools that depends on libpython2.5, then you are done, restart your apache, daemons, whatever is in Python.

 

Happy Python.

 

PS: if you are using postgresql-8.3 as stable, you will have some problems with egenix-mx-base: a package needed by postgresql-server

dev-db/postgresql-server-8.3.7 (python? dev-python/egenix-mx-base)

There is a "with" parameter in a function, in 2.6 witch is a reserved keyword solution was to update to >=dev-python/egenix-mx-base-3.1.1.