Mailman 3 April 2018 - Distutils-SIG

Improving Communication
by Donald Stufft 30 Jul '20

30 Jul '20

Currently in the packaging space, we have a number of avenues for communication, which are: - distutils-sig - pypa-dev - virtualenv-users - Other project specific mailing lists - IRC - gitter - Various issue trackers spread across multiple platforms. - Probably more places I’m not remembering. The result of this is that all discussion ends up being super fractured amongst the various places. Sometimes that is exactly what you want (for instance, someone who is working on the wheel specs probably doesn’t care about deprecation policy and internal module renaming in pip) and sometimes that ends up being the opposite of what you want (for instance, when you’re describing something that touches PyPI, setuptools, flit, pip, etc all at once). Theoretically the idea is that distutils-sig is where cross project reaching stuff goes, IRC/gitter is where real time discussion goes, and the various project mailing lists and issue trackers are where the project specific bits go. The problem is that often times doesn’t actually happen in practice except for the largest and most obvious of changes. I think our current “communications stack” kind of sucks, and I’d love to figure out a better way for us to handle this that solves the sort of weird “independent but related” set of projects we have here. From my POV, a list of our major problems are: * Discussion gets fractured across a variety of platforms and locations, which can make it difficult to actually keep up with what’s going on but also to know how to loop in someone relevant if their input would be valuable. You have to more or less simultaneously know someone’s email, Github username, IRC nick, bitbucket username, etc to be able to bring threads of discussion to people’s attention. * It’s not always clear to users where a discussion should go, often times they’ll come to one location and need to get redirected to another location. If any discussion did happen in the incorrect location, it tends to need to get restarted in the new location (and depending on the specific platform, it may be impossible to actually redirect everyone over to the proper location, so you again, end up fractured with the discussion happening in two places). * A lot of the technology in this stack is particularly old, and lacks a lot of the modern day affordances that newer things have. An example is being able to edit a discussion post to fix typos that can hinder the ability of others to actually understand whats being talked about. In your typical mailing list or IRC there’s no mechanism by which you can edit an already sent message, so your only option is to either let the problem ride and hope it doesn’t trip up too many people, or send an additional message to correct the error. However these show up as additional, later messages which someone might not even see until they’ve already been thoroughly confused by the first message (since people tend to read email/IRC in a linear fashion). - There is a lot of things in this one, other things are things like being able to control in a more fine grained manner what email you’re going to get. - Holy crap, formatting and typography to make things actually readable and not a big block of plaintext. * We don’t have a clear way for users to get help, leaving users to treat random issues, discussion areas, etc as a support forum, rather than some place that’s actually optimized for that. Some of this ties back into some of the earlier things too, where it’s hard to actually redirect discussions These aren’t *new* problems, and often times the existing members of a community are the least effected becasue they’ve already spent effort learning the ins and outs and also curating a (typically custom) workflow that they’ve grown accustomed too. The problem with that is that often times that means that new users are left out, and the community gets smaller and smaller as time goes on as people leave and aren’t replaced with new blood, because they’re driven off but the issues with the stack. A big part of the place this is coming from, is me sitting back and realizing that I tend to be drawn towards pulling discussions into Github issues rather than onto the varying mailing lists, not because that’s always the most appropriate place for it, but because it’s the least painful place in terms of features and functionality. I figure if I’m doing that, when I already have a significant investment in setting up tooling and being involved here, that others (and particularly new users) are likely feeling the same way. - Donald

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PyPi not allowing duplicate filenames
by Chris Barker 20 Apr '20

20 Apr '20

Hi all, PyPi does not allow duplicate file names -- this makes lots of sense, because you really don't want people to go to PyPi one day and grab a file, and then go there another day, grab a file with exactly the same name, and have it be a different file. However.... We are all too human, and make mistakes when doing a release. All to often someone pushed a broken file up to PyPi, often realizes it pretty quickly -- before anyone has a chance to even download it (or only the dev team as, for testing...). In fact, I was in a sprint last summer, and we decided to push our package up to PyPi -- granted, we were all careless amateurish noobs, but we ended up making I think 4! minor version bumps because we had done something stupid in the sdist. Also -- the latest numpy release got caught in this, too: """ * We ran into a problem with pipy not allowing reuse of filenames and a resulting proliferation of *.*.*.postN releases. Not only were the names getting out of hand, some packages were unable to work with the postN suffix. """ So -- I propose that PyPi allow projects to replace existing files if they REALLY REALLY want to. You should have to jump through all sorts of hoops, and make it really clear that it is a BAD IDEA in the general case, but it'd be good to have it be possible. After all -- PyPi does not take on responsibility for anything else about what's in those packages, and Python itself is all about "we're all consenting adults here" I suppose we could even put in some heuristics about how long the file as been there, how many times it's been downloaded, etc. Just a thought.....I really hate systems that don't let me roll back mistakes, even when I discover them almost immediately... -CHB -- Christopher Barker, Ph.D. Oceanographer Emergency Response Division NOAA/NOS/OR&R (206) 526-6959 voice 7600 Sand Point Way NE (206) 526-6329 fax Seattle, WA 98115 (206) 526-6317 main reception Chris.Barker(a)noaa.gov

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ImportError running 'test' on namespace package - other package in namespace not found
by Jason R. Coombs 17 Apr '20

17 Apr '20

I've got two projects: mynamespace.myprojectA and mynamespace.myprojectB myprojectB depends on myprojectA. I'm using setuptools 0.6c8 to manage both projects. Both projects are registered using 'setup develop'. Both projects are accessible from an interactive interpreter: PS C:\Users\me\projects> python Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Feb 21 2008, 13:11:45) [MSC v.1310 32 bit (Intel)] on win32 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>> import mynamespace.myprojectA >>> import mynamespace.myprojectB >>> from mynamespace.myprojectA import mymoduleZ However, when I run 'setup test' in myprojectB, the tests fail with File ".mymoduleZ.py", line NNN, in [some context] from mynamespace.myprojectA.mymoduleZ import MyClassC ImportError: No module named myprojectA.mymoduleZ In setup.py, the test_suite is nose.collector. I searched and couldn't find anyone else with this problem. Is this a supported configuration? Is there something I can do to make tests work with interdependent projects with the same root namespace? If there's not something obvious I should be doing differently, I'm happy to put together a minimal test case that reproduces the problem. Any suggestions are appreciated. Sincerely, Jason R. Coombs

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Surviving a Compromise of PyPI - PEP 458 and 480
by Vladimir Diaz 13 Feb '20

13 Feb '20

Hello everyone, I am a research programmer at the NYU School of Engineering. My colleagues (Trishank Kuppusamy and Justin Cappos) and I are requesting community feedback on our proposal, "Surviving a Compromise of PyPI." The two-stage proposal can be reviewed online at: PEP 458 http://legacy.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0458/ PEP 480 http://legacy.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0480/ Summary of the Proposal: "Surviving a Compromise of PyPI" proposes how the Python Package Index (PyPI) can be amended to better protect end users from altered or malicious packages, and to minimize the extent of PyPI compromises against affected users. The proposed integration allows package managers such as pip to be more secure against various types of security attacks on PyPI and defend end users from attackers responding to package requests. Specifically, these PEPs describe how PyPI processes should be adapted to generate and incorporate repository metadata, which are signed text files that describe the packages and metadata available on PyPI. Package managers request (along with the packages) the metadata on PyPI to verify the authenticity of packages before they are installed. The changes to PyPI and tools will be minimal by leveraging a library, The Update Framework <https://github.com/theupdateframework/tuf>, that generates and transparently validates the relevant metadata. The first stage of the proposal (PEP 458 <http://legacy.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0458/>) uses a basic security model that supports verification of PyPI packages signed with cryptographic keys stored on PyPI, requires no action from developers and end users, and protects against malicious CDNs and public mirrors. To support continuous delivery of uploaded packages, PyPI administrators sign for uploaded packages with an online key stored on PyPI infrastructure. This level of security prevents packages from being accidentally or deliberately tampered with by a mirror or a CDN because the mirror or CDN will not have any of the keys required to sign for projects. The second stage of the proposal (PEP 480 <http://legacy.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0480/>) is an extension to the basic security model (discussed in PEP 458) that supports end-to-end verification of signed packages. End-to-end signing allows both PyPI and developers to sign for the packages that are downloaded by end users. If the PyPI infrastructure were to be compromised, attackers would be unable to serve malicious versions of these packages without access to the project's developer key. As in PEP 458, no additional action is required by end users. However, PyPI administrators will need to periodically (perhaps every few months) sign metadata with an offline key. PEP 480 also proposes an easy-to-use key management solution for developers, how to interface with a potential build farm on PyPI infrastructure, and discusses the security benefits of end-to-end signing. The second stage of the proposal simultaneously supports real-time project registration and developer signatures, and when configured to maximize security on PyPI, less than 1% of end users will be at risk even if an attacker controls PyPI and goes undetected for a month. We thank Nick Coghlan and Donald Stufft for their valuable contributions, and Giovanni Bajo and Anatoly Techtonik for their feedback. Thanks, PEP 458 & 480 authors.

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Re: [Distutils] [Python-ideas] Pypi private repo's
by Alex Walters 17 Oct '18

17 Oct '18

I am fairly sure if you give the PyPA that suggestion, they will just deflate at the thought of the workload. Besides, we already offer private repos for free, several ways ranging from devpi to python -m SimpleHTTPServer in a specially created directory. From: Python-ideas <python-ideas-bounces+tritium-list=sdamon.com(a)python.org> On Behalf Of Nick Humrich Sent: Wednesday, April 4, 2018 12:26 PM To: python-ideas(a)python.org Subject: [Python-ideas] Pypi private repo's I am sure this has been discussed before, and this might not even be the best place for this discussion, but I just wanted to make sure this has been thought about. What if pypi.org <http://pypi.org> supported private repos at a cost, similar to npm? This would be able to help support the cost of pypi, and hopefully make it better/more reliable, thus in turn improving the python community. If this discussion should happen somewhere else, let me know. Nick

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Summary of PyPI overhaul in new LWN article
by Sumana Harihareswara 26 Jul '18

26 Jul '18

Today, LWN published my new article "A new package index for Python". https://lwn.net/Articles/751458/ In it, I discuss security, policy, UX and developer experience changes in the 15+ years since PyPI's founding, new features (and deprecated old features) in Warehouse, and future plans. Plus: screenshots! If you aren't already an LWN subscriber, you can use this subscriber link for the next week to read the article despite the LWN paywall. https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/751458/81b2759e7025d6b9/ This summary should help occasional Python programmers -- and frequent Pythonists who don't follow packaging/distro discussions closely -- understand why a new application is necessary, what's new, what features are going away, and what to expect in the near future. I also hope it catches the attention of downstreams that ought to migrate. -- Sumana Harihareswara Warehouse project manager Changeset Consulting https://changeset.nyc

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This list will soon be migrating to Mailman 3
by Nick Coghlan 10 May '18

10 May '18

Hi folks, The recent discussion of communication workflows prompted me to investigate exactly what would be involved in migrating the list to Mailman 3 (with its native web gateway and other account management improvements), and I'm happy to report that there don't appear to be any blockers to our initiating the migration. I'm currently planning to send the migration request to postmaster(a)python.org later this week (probably Thursday evening), but don't have an ETA for how long the actual migration may take after that (as I believe distutils-sig will be one of the larger python.org list migrations undertaken so far). Accordingly, this is an initial heads up as to exactly what the change will mean: 1. If you only ever access the mailing list via email, and never tinker with your subscription settings or look up threads in the list archives, then you shouldn't notice any real changes other than some of the headers on mails from the list changing a bit (such as the new Archived-At header appearing on each message). 2. If you do use the website to change your subscription settings or look up threads in the list archives, or have wished you had a more web-forum-like interface for accessing the list, then the rest of this email is likely to be of interest :) == Changes to subscription management (and list moderation) == Mailman 3 relies on a more conventional user account management model than the historically list-centric model in Mailman 2. This means that either before or after the migration, folks that want to modify their subscription settings will need to go to https://mail.python.org/mm3/ and register for an account. If you use GitLab, GitHub, Google, or Facebook, then you can go straight to https://mail.python.org/mm3/accounts/login/, select one of those options, and grant the required access to look up your email address. (At least for GitHub, the request will come from Mark Sapiro's developer key, and I believe that's the case for the other services as well) If your address on the linked service matches your subscription address, then you're done. If it doesn't match, then you can head to https://mail.python.org/mm3/accounts/email/ to register more addresses (and hence link any related subscriptions to your account). If you don't use any of those services, or simply don't want to use them with mail.python.org, then head to https://mail.python.org/mm3/accounts/signup/ to create a conventional username-and-password based account. Regardless of how you sign up, the primary authentication mechanism is access to the relevant email address - the old MM2 plain text email password isn't used at all. After the migration, the current https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/distutils-sig URL will automatically redirect to https://mail.python.org/mm3/mailman3/lists/distutils-sig.python.org/ For a working example of what that will look like, see https://mail.python.org/mm3/mailman3/lists/core-workflow.python.org/ == Changes to list archiving (and the native web gateway) == After the migration, the current list archive at https://mail.python.org/pipermail/distutils-sig/ will remain in place in order to preserve existing links, but will no longer be updated with new messages. That page will also be updated with a link to the new archiver/web gateway page. That page will be at https://mail.python.org/mm3/archives/list/distutils-sig@python.org/, and not only features stable and predictable URLs for each post, but also includes a native web gateway, allowing folks to both create new threads and reply to existing ones using the web page, without needing to explicitly subscribe to the list first. Again, core-workflow provides an example of what that will look like in practice, with the new archive at https://mail.python.org/mm3/archives/list/core-workflow@python.org/, and the post-migration legacy archive at https://mail.python.org/pipermail/core-workflow/. Regards, Nick. -- Nick Coghlan | ncoghlan(a)gmail.com | Brisbane, Australia

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Packaging/Warehouse sprint at PyCon 2018
by Sumana Harihareswara 08 May '18

08 May '18

In case you're planning your PyCon Cleveland travel: we are planning to hold a Warehouse/packaging sprint at PyCon (the sprints are Monday, May 14th - Thursday, May 17th 2018). We welcome package maintainers, backend and frontend web developers, infrastructure administrators, technical writers, and testers to help us make the new PyPI, and the packaging ecosystem more generally, as usable and robust as possible. I took the liberty of updating https://us.pycon.org/2018/community/sprints/ to say so. Once we're closer to the sprints I'll work on a more detailed list of things we'll work on in Cleveland. -- Sumana Harihareswara Changeset Consulting https://changeset.nyc

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Fwd: [pypi-announce] legacy.pypi.org shut down, please use pypi.org
by Sumana Harihareswara 30 Apr '18

30 Apr '18

Roadmap's updated https://wiki.python.org/psf/WarehouseRoadmap . We'd love your help for the next chapter, the post-legacy-shutdown tasks: https://github.com/pypa/warehouse/milestone/12 -- Sumana Harihareswara PyPI/Warehouse project manager Changeset Consulting https://changeset.nyc -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: [pypi-announce] legacy.pypi.org shut down, please use pypi.org Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2018 15:25:50 -0000 From: sh(a)changeset.nyc Reply-To: distutils-sig(a)python.org To: pypi-announce(a)python.org We have sunset the original Python Package Index service, which was temporarily deployed at https://legacy.pypi.org . The new PyPI is at https://pypi.org . Browser and API calls to pypi.python.org will continue to redirect to pypi.org . If you have been using legacy.pypi.org directly, please start using pypi.org : https://warehouse.readthedocs.io/api-reference/integration-guide/#migrating… If there is a feature that the new codebase does not support, you should file an issue at https://github.com/pypa/warehouse/issues as soon as possible. If you use JFrog Artifactory, please make sure you're running the latest version. Please see the guidance from JFrog https://jfrog.com/knowledge-base/why-am-i-not-able-to-connect-to-pypi-pytho… and full discussion of the issue https://github.com/pypa/warehouse/issues/3275 . Maintenance report on the sunsetting: https://status.python.org/incidents/ptvp1wnn0jmq Historical context and future plans: https://lwn.net/Articles/751458/ Sincerely, Sumana Harihareswara on behalf of the PyPI team _______________________________________________ pypi-announce mailing list pypi-announce(a)python.org https://mail.python.org/mm3/mailman3/lists/pypi-announce.python.org/

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help needed on pinflow account
by Changshu Liu 30 Apr '18

30 Apr '18

I apologize if this email spams you, but this is the only email address I can find from http:// <goog_582715680>pypa.io. And we are in an situation that need your help. We have a former employee who created user/project on pypi named as p*inflow, *which is inactive for 2+ years. - https://pypi.org/user/pinflow/ - https://pypi.org/project/pinflow/ And now we want to reuse this name to open source a project. We know the email access of this user, but both password for this email and pypi account are lost during the transition period. Is there any way to recover/reset the account's password so that we can update new package? Thanks in advance and this will give us huge value. (please little r to me if you can help and I can share the email address of pinflow user) Thanks, Changshu

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Distutils-SIG April 2018