[Pythonmac-SIG] IDLE on OS X

[Jack Jansen]

Mitchel,
the confusion you see is the result of OSX still being pretty new, and 
things not having settled down yet. At the moment there are (from a user 
point of view) three variations of Python for OSX (old MacPython, 
framework-Python (aka MachoPython, and the candidate for MacPython 2.3 
for OSX) and unix-Python) and two variations of Tk (X11-Tk and AquaTk).

Out of the six possible combinations 2 or 3 work. The one you picked 
(unix-Python + X11-Tk + XDarwin server) works, but the consensus is that 
this is a stopgap: running X11 on OSX is not goint to be something for 
the masses. The combination that is expected to become the standard is 
framework-Python with AquaTk, but these should still be considered 
experimental at this point in time.

On Friday, August 2, 2002, at 04:59 , Mitchell L Model wrote:

> I just reviewed the last four months of Python mailing list mail on 
> Python to see what the status of IDLE is on the Mac, and I'm pretty 
> confused.  There seem to be so many variations of Python for OS X that 
> it's hard to tell what works with what.  Can someone please summarize 
> the state of IDLE on OS X or post recommendations for using it?
>
> I can answer one question: "How do I start IDLE on OS X?".  I've never 
> used IDLE before, so this was a non-trivial exercise for me, that 
> included reading various web pages, pointed to in the usual places, 
> about Tk on OS X and using Tkinter in Python on OS X.  I still didn't 
> find anything that said how to start IDLE, but with a little 
> experimentation and a lot of guessing, I found at least the following 
> worked (I'm using XDarwin and python 2.2.1 installed via fink):
>
>       start XDarwin
>
>       In XDarwin, in an xterm or Emacs shell, do::
>
>          % python
>         >>> import Tkinter
>          >>> import idlelib.idle
>
> and if everything's OK you get prompted for the IDLE shell window, from 
> which you can open other windows.  Whether you can do anything useful 
> after that is another question, which I haven't yet answered.
>
> I've downloaded and installed various Tk/Tcl packages for OS X, both 
> from within fink and separately, so unfortunately I can no longer 
> characterize what you can expect to find in an unmoidifed OS X 
> installation, what you get with fink python, what you get with other 
> pythons, what you get by installing Tk/Tcl separately, and so forth. I 
> haven't even figured out yet whether the Tk used when I import Tkinter 
> is the Tk.framework in my /Library/Frameworks folder or one that's 
> somewhere else.  (It would be easy enough to move the framework and try 
> again, but I'm afraid to find out that things still work, because then 
> I have to go figure out why :-)  It would be nice if someone could 
> clarify for experienced OS X and python programmers who have never done 
> anything with Tk or IDLE how this all ties together.  Or point to 
> someplace that does.
> --
>     --- Mitchell
>
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--
- Jack Jansen        <Jack.Jansen@oratrix.com>        
http://www.cwi.nl/~jack -
- If I can't dance I don't want to be part of your revolution -- Emma 
Goldman -