On Thu, May 5, 2016 at 10:45 PM, Greg Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> wrote:
 
Even if python is available, you might not want to run
arbitrary code just to install a package.

If a config file can contain executable code, then it
can contain bugs. Debugging is something the developer of
a package should have to do, not the user. In my experience,
fixing someone else's buggy setup.py is about as much fun
as pulling one's own teeth out with a blunt screwdriver.

well, in my experience, debugging my OWN buggy setup.py is about equally pleasant!

But I think there is consensus here that build systems need to be customisable -- which means arbitrary code may have to be run. So I don't think this is going to help anyone avoiding dealing with buggy builds :-(

or are we talking about a config file that would be delivered with a binary wheel? IN which case, yes, it should not have any executable code in it.

And anyway, it seems folks want to go with static config anyway -- clearly separating configuration from customization, so I'll stop now.

I'd still like to be able to use Python literals, though :-)

-CHB



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