On 11 July 2013 06:50, Paul Moore <p.f.moore@gmail.com> wrote:
I think "python -m pip" should be the canonical form (used in documentation, examples, etc). The unittest module has taken this route, as has timeit. Traditionally, python-dev have been lukewarm about the -m interface, but its key advantage is that it bypasses all the issues around versioned executables, cross-platform issues, the general dreadfulness of script wrappers on Windows, etc, in one fell swoop.
"python -m pip" does make the bootstrapping a more complex proposition - the stdlib would have to have something called "pip" that could be overridden (while it is actually *running*) by something installed in site-packages. Not easy. Thanks everyone for your brilliant feedback and discussion - I look forward to being able to say something sensible about Windows in the PEP :-) Richard