[Distutils] Simple idea to resolve versioning problems

[Greg Ewing]

Jeff Younker wrote:

> Thats a great theory, but that's not how the real world works.  Python
> packages are an ecology where there will be inconsistencies between
> different minor versions of the same package.

I'm not sure what you're arguing here. If you're saying
that having a version management system won't make these
sorts of problems go away, then I fully agree.

But that's no reason not to have a verion management
system. If you have one, then at least it provides a
clear set of rules for people to try to adhere to, and
helps show up when they aren't being adhered to, so that
the problem can be fixed.

> A legitimate bug fix
> may break behavior that other packages depend upon while correcting
> the behavior for others.

If it does that, then it will break other packages anyway,
whether a versioning system is being used or not. So I
would say it's introduced another bug which in turn needs
to be fixed.

The versioning system is not the cause of this and can't
be blamed for it.

> What is needed is a Real Versioning System.  A system in which a library
> or application consists of:
> 
> 1) files
> 2) a dependency link map

That sound like a dependency management system to me, not
a version management system. They're different things,
although dependency management can benefit from having a
clear way of labelling versions.

> When the system loads the package it links in the dependent modules.   Then
> you can get a system where:
> 
> Application A imports B v 1.1 and C v 2.3
> 
> and
> 
> Application D imports B v 1.4 and C v 2.6.

Ummm... how is that any different from what I suggested?
If in the Python context "loads" means "uses an import
statement".

-- 
Greg