[Distutils] "just use debian"

[Chris Withers]

Tarek Ziadé wrote:
>>> In other words the problem we have today with an OS-based installation is that
>>> you cannot really have two versions of the same package installed,
>>> that would make happy
>>> two Python applications.

Right, which is why dependencies can often be best matched by a 
project-based tool like buildout rather than having to have one python 
setup support all use cases.

>> No, the problem we have today is that some developers are providing
>> modules without API stability, which means you cannot simply depend on a
>> module, you need a specific version.

This problem is never going away, it's the nature of software.

>> Again, when a C library changes its ABI, we do not allow it to keep the
>> same name. It's as simple as that.

That's insane, and I bet without trying to hard, I could find examples 
of violation of this supposed practice.

> My convention is to :
>  - keep the the old API and the new API in the new version, let's say "2.0"
>  - mark the old API as deprecated (we have this "warning'" module in
> Python to do so)
>  - remove the old API in the next release, like "2.1"

Right.

> But I don't want to change the package name.

Right.

>>> The setuptools project has partly improved this by providing a way to
>>> install several
>>> version of the same package in Python and give a way to select which
>>> one is active.
>> This is not an improvement, it is a nightmare for the sysadmin. 

Absolutely. This multi-version rubbish is totally and utterly insanely 
wrong.

> I have an idea: what about having a "known good set" (KGS) like what
> Zope has built on its
> side.
> 
> a Known Good Set is a set of python package versions, that are known to provide
> the good execution context for a given version of Python.

Given how poorly maintained Zope's "KGS" is, I think this is a pipe dream.

Besides, accurately specified dependency information, including 
versions, within a package should suffice. It would be handy if you 
could also specify python version compatibility in this, something that 
setuptools does not currently support AFAIK.

cheers,

Chris

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