Update Pledge text with Thomas statement.

Author: Carreau

_posts/2007-01-01-the-pledge.md

@@ -11,11 +11,35 @@ color: black
 ## Your feedback is welcomed.
 
 
-Python 3 is the future of the Python language.
-Python 3 is nicer to work with than Python 2.7, making code maintenance easier.
-Python 3 also allows for some feature possibilities that Python 2 simply doesn't allow for.
-Unfortunately, many projects still support both Python 2 and 3 which is its own development burden.
-Supporting Python 2 can also hold a project back from supporting features only possible in Python 3.
+All of the major projects making up the Scientific Python stack now support
+both Python 3.x and Python 2.7, and many projects have been supporting these
+two versions of the language for several years. While we have developed tools
+and techniques to maintain compatibility efficiently, it is a small but
+constant friction in the development of a lot of code.
+
+We are keen to use Python 3, and we currently accept the cost of writing
+cross-compatible code to allow a smooth transition, but we don’t intend to
+maintain this indefinitely. Although the transition has not been as quick as we
+hoped, we do see it taking place, with more and more people using, teaching and
+recommending Python 3.
+
+The developers of the Python language extended support of Python 2.7 from 2015
+to 2020, recognising that many people were still using Python 2. We believe
+that the extra 5 years is sufficient, and our projects plan to stop supporting
+Python 2 when upstream support ends in 2020, if not before. We will then be
+able to simplify our code and take advantage of the many new features in the
+current version of the Python language and standard library.
+
+In addition, significantly before 2020, some of our projects will step down
+Python 2.7 support to only fixing bugs, and make new feature releases which
+require Python 3. This too parallels support for the language itself, as Python
+2.7 releases only include bugfixes and security improvements.
+
+Third parties may offer paid support for our projects on old Python versions
+for longer than we support them ourselves. We won’t obstruct this, and it is a
+core principle of free and open source software that this is possible. However,
+if you enjoy the free, first party support for many projects in the Scientific
+Python stack, please start planning to move to Python 3.
 
 For all of these reasons, the following projects have pledged to **drop support for Python 2.7 no later than 2020**,
 coinciding with the Python development team's [timeline for dropping support for Python 2.7](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0373/#update).