From: Thomas Heller [mailto:thomas.heller@ion-tof.com]
The sources are in CVS: http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/python/distutils/misc/
Unfortunately, I don't have CVS access...
The bdist_wininst installer simply installs into prefix, this is what the registry has under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Python\PythonCore\2.1\InstallPath.
Now what should it do?
What does that key *mean*? If it is the directory into which packages should get installed, then bdist_wininst should keep doing what it does now, and the Python installer should be changed to put site-packages into that key. If, on the other hand, this key has a meaning elsewhere in Python, and changing it would cause a problem, then I would say that this is a bug in the Windows Installer, which should use a key of its own. In that case, my recommendation would be to have the Python 2.2 installer create a new key, and wininst use that if it exists, otherwise fall back to the current key. That would provide the correct behaviour in the new release, but retain backward compatibility with earlier versions of Python.
There are probably some issues here.
Agreed. I apologise if I didn't publicise the PEP in the right places for these to get picked up earlier - I thought I had. I believe my suggestion above will do the right thing, but I am not an expert in the intricacies of Python's use of the registry, so I'd like someone more knowledgeable to comment, if possible. Paul.