Retire/symlink EOL versions?

Currently, 3.0-3.5 and 2.0-2.6 are symlinked to the release/ directory. Should we also retire 2.7, 3.6, 3.7, and 3.8 in the same way?

I'm not sure what procedure @JulienPalard has used in the past, as https://docs.python.org/3.5/ shows the EOL banner even though it is symlinked, meaning the files in release/3.5.10 have changed. We should record what the best course of action is and then apply it to the EOL versions we choose to retire/symlink.

This would also simplify build_docs.py a little bit.

A

adam@docs:/srv/docs.python.org$ ls -al
total 152
drwxrwxr-x  26 docsbuild docs   4096 Oct  7  2024 .
drwxr-xr-x   5 root      root   4096 Aug  8  2024 ..
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs      3 Feb 14  2019 2 -> 2.7
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs     13 Feb 14  2019 2.0 -> release/2.0.1
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs     13 Feb 14  2019 2.1 -> release/2.1.3
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs     13 Feb 14  2019 2.2 -> release/2.2.3
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs     13 Feb 14  2019 2.3 -> release/2.3.5
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs     13 Feb 14  2019 2.4 -> release/2.4.4
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs     13 Feb 14  2019 2.5 -> release/2.5.4
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs     13 Feb 14  2019 2.6 -> release/2.6.9
drwxrwxr-x  19 docsbuild docs   4096 Apr 11  2022 2.7
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs      4 Oct  7  2024 3 -> 3.13
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs     13 Feb 14  2019 3.0 -> release/3.0.1
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs     13 Feb 14  2019 3.1 -> release/3.1.5
drwxrwxr-x  20 docsbuild docs   4096 Apr 15 23:25 3.10
drwxrwxr-x  20 docsbuild docs   4096 Apr 15 23:24 3.11
drwxrwxr-x  19 docsbuild docs   4096 Apr 15 23:22 3.12
drwxrwxr-x  19 docsbuild docs   4096 Apr 15 23:20 3.13
drwxrwxr-x  19 docsbuild docs   4096 Apr 15 23:17 3.14
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs     13 Feb 14  2019 3.2 -> release/3.2.6
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs     13 Feb 14  2019 3.3 -> release/3.3.7
lrwxrwxrwx   1 docsbuild docs     14 Mar 18  2019 3.4 -> release/3.4.10
lrwxrwxrwx   1 larry     larry    14 Sep  5  2020 3.5 -> release/3.5.10
drwxrwxr-x  19 docsbuild docs   4096 Apr 16 01:37 3.6
drwxrwxr-x  20 docsbuild docs   4096 Apr 16 01:35 3.7
drwxrwxr-x  20 docsbuild docs   4096 Apr 15 23:31 3.8
drwxrwxr-x  20 docsbuild docs   4096 Apr 15 23:28 3.9

Start by reading build_docs.py and comparing the existing release/ symlinks with the version directories listed in the issue. Establish the project’s procedure for retiring EOL versions, record the decision, apply it to the selected versions, and verify the affected docs URLs and EOL banners.