[Jim A]
Lately I have been more active in distribution via archive files. Part of the solution is an archive file format which is identical on Unix and Windows, and which can hold the Python library and packages as single files. For my own efforts on this see:
ftp://ftp.interet.com/pub/pylib.html
Apart from agreeing with Jean-Claude's rant about inventing a new archive format, I think this is a good proposal because it is very clear about the problem it tries to solve and doesn't get distracted by other issues. I also commend Jim for building upon Greg Stein's imputil (like Gordon did). I wish I could present a solution this simple as The Standard Way, but (as explained in my long post earlier today) there just are so many wrinkles that I'd rather hold out for the Right Solution... But I've taken good notice of Jim's solution. --Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)