[Pythonmac-SIG] Fink vs. MacPython

[Bob Ippolito]

On Feb 11, 2006, at 12:48 PM, Markus wrote:

> Somewhere deep in the latest discussion I read a remark by Bob that
> he would not recommend the use of Finks python (there also was
> another that he didn't like Debian so that may explain it :)
>
> I came from Debian to OS X and nearly the first thing I did was to
> install Fink and thusly python. The three extensions I needed so far
> did install with 'python setup.py install' and everything works fine
> for me.
>
> So why is Fink 'bad'? Am I missing some features I would have had
> with MacPython?

There are several disadvantages to using Fink or DarwinPorts Python  
which have been spelled out earlier in the thread.  While they are  
perfectly fine for running UNIX and X11 apps, they're not good for  
doing Mac-specific work.  Why even call it MacPython if it's not a  
Python distribution that actually takes advantage of the platform?

This whole gigantic discussion is about making MacPython more  
friendly.  To do so, we must consolidate our efforts and offer  
documentation and support for One Way To Do It, which is going to be  
a framework build of Python 2.4.2 with a lot of hacks to make it  
universal.

No other method will be explicitly endorsed by this particular  
community effort.  We're not trying to disparage the use of other  
distributions, but if you do, then you might be on your own.  This  
Pythonmac-SIG list is still fine for discussing anything relevant to  
the platform, but the majority of the participants in discussions  
here are using a framework build (either 2.4 or Apple's).

-bob