Re: [Python-Dev] .pth files are evil

Zooko O'Whielacronx wrote:

.pth files are why I can't easily use GNU stow with easy_install. If installing a Python package involved writing new files into the filesystem, but did not require reading, updating, and re-writing any extant files such as .pth files, then GNU stow would Just Work with easy_install the way it Just Works with most things.

Please understand that this is the fault of easy_install, not of .pth files. There is no technical need for easy_install to rewrite .pth files on installation. It could just as well have created new .pth files, rather than modifying existing ones. If you always use --single-version-externally-managed with easy_install, it will stop editing .pth files on installation. Regards, Martin