[Bug]: backports module import in 3006 LTS

[y-martin]

What happened?

If backports is missing, salt can't start. This import seems unused.

After in the file, backports import is tested with a fallback to a salt.ext version: https://github.com/saltstack/salt/blob/b8180fcfc7036d0062aee3a31be5a79591b6dc8f/salt/utils/thin.py#L79

Is it possible to remove this import in 3006.x ?

Regards

Type of salt install

pip (git)

Major version

3006.x

What supported OS are you seeing the problem on? Can select multiple. (If bug appears on an unsupported OS, please open a GitHub Discussion instead)

debian-12

salt --versions-report output

Salt Version:
          Salt: 3006.17
 
Python Version:
        Python: 3.11.2 (main, Apr 28 2025, 14:11:48) [GCC 12.2.0]
 
Dependency Versions:
          cffi: Not Installed
      cherrypy: Not Installed
  cryptography: 38.0.4
      dateutil: 2.8.2
     docker-py: Not Installed
         gitdb: 4.0.9
     gitpython: 3.1.30
        Jinja2: 3.1.2
       libgit2: Not Installed
  looseversion: 1.3.0
      M2Crypto: 0.38.0
          Mako: Not Installed
       msgpack: 1.0.3
  msgpack-pure: Not Installed
  mysql-python: Not Installed
     packaging: 23.0
     pycparser: Not Installed
      pycrypto: Not Installed
  pycryptodome: 3.11.0
        pygit2: Not Installed
  python-gnupg: 0.4.9
        PyYAML: 6.0
         PyZMQ: 24.0.1
        relenv: Not Installed
         smmap: 5.0.0
       timelib: Not Installed
       Tornado: 4.5.3
           ZMQ: 4.3.4
 
System Versions:
          dist: debian 12.12 bookworm
        locale: utf-8
       machine: x86_64
       release: 6.12.58-xendom0
        system: Linux
       version: Debian GNU/Linux 12.12 bookworm