[PULP-1658] Python 3.12 compatibility: export.py imports distutils.util.strtobool which was removed in Python 3.12

[Odilhao]

Version
pulpcore 3.85.15 (and likely all current versions — confirmed on main branch as of 2026-04-09)

Describe the bug
pulpcore/app/tasks/export.py imports strtobool from distutils.util:

# pulpcore/app/tasks/export.py, line 7
from distutils.util import strtobool

distutils was deprecated in Python 3.10 and removed entirely from the Python 3.12 stdlib (PEP 632). On Python 3.12 installs where setuptools is not present at runtime (it is only a build dependency in many packaging configurations), this causes pulpcore-manager to crash on startup with:

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils'

The full import chain:

pulpcore/app/viewsets/base.py
  → pulpcore/app/tasks/__init__.py
    → pulpcore/app/tasks/export.py:7
        from distutils.util import strtobool
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils'

This breaks pulpcore-manager migrate, pulpcore-manager collectstatic, and any other management commands that trigger this import path, making pulpcore completely non-functional on Python 3.12 systems where setuptools is not installed as a runtime dependency.

To Reproduce

1. Install pulpcore on a Python 3.12 system without setuptools as a runtime dependency
2. Run pulpcore-manager migrate --noinput or pulpcore-manager collectstatic --noinput
3. Observe: ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils'

Expected behavior
pulpcore-manager should start without errors on Python 3.12. distutils.util.strtobool should be replaced with an inline implementation or with packaging's equivalent, since distutils is no longer available in Python 3.12.

Suggested fix
Replace the distutils import and usage in export.py:

# Remove this:
from distutils.util import strtobool

# Replace line 353:
full = bool(strtobool(full))

# With (inline, no import needed):
full = str(full).lower() in ('y', 'yes', 't', 'true', 'on', '1')

Additional context

• distutils removal: https://docs.python.org/3/whatsnew/3.12.html#removed
• PEP 632 (distutils deprecation): https://peps.python.org/pep-0632/
• Discovered while packaging pulpcore 3.85.15 for RHEL 9 (Python 3.12). Worked around in packaging by adding setuptools as a runtime Requires, but the root fix should be in pulpcore itself.

[ggainey]

Looks like this wasn't caught by our CI because setuptools is build-required and therefore ends up installed.

[ggainey]

For reference when we go to address this, see the discussion here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/77941994/what-is-setuptools-alternative-to-the-deprecated-distutils-strtobool