Thoughts on running Python 3.5 on Windows (path, pip install --user, etc)
I just thought I'd give installing Python 3.5 a go on my PC, now that 3.5a2 has come out. I didn't get very far (see earlier message) but it prompted me to think about how I'd use it, and what habits I'd need to change. I'd suggest that the "what's new in 3.5" document probably needs a section on the new installer that explains this stuff... First of all, I always use "all users" installs, so I have Python in "Program Files" now. As a result, doing "pip install foo" requires elevation. As that's a PITA, I probably need to switch to using "pip install --user". All that's fine, and from there "py -3.5" works fine, as does "py -3.5 -m foo". But even if it is, not every entry point has a corresponding "-m" invocation (pygments' pygmentize command doesn't seem to, for example) But suppose I want to put Python 3.5 on my PATH. The installer has an "add Python to PATH" checkbox, but (if I'm reading the WiX source right, I didn't select that on install) that doesn't add the user directory. So I need to add that to my PATH. Is that right? And of course, that means I need to *know* the user site directory ($env:LOCALAPPDATA\Python\Python35\Scripts), correct? It feels to me like this might be a frustrating step backwards for Windows users who have recently (with the arrival of ensurepip) got to the point where they can just run Python with "Add to path" and then simply do pip install pygments pygmentize --help Maybe the answer is that we simply start recommending that everyone on Windows uses per-user installs. It makes little difference to me (beyond the fact that when I want to look at the source of something in the stdlib, the location of the file is a lot harder to remember than C:\Apps\Python34\Lib\whatever.py) but I doubt it's what most people will expect. I'm completely OK with the idea that we move to "Program Files" as a default location. And I have no real issue with Steve's position that the "Add to Path" option has issues that can't really be solved because of the way Windows constructs the PATH. But I know there have been a lot of people frustrated by the complicated instructions needed to get something like pygmentize working, for whom getting pip in 2.7 and 3.4 was a major improvement. So I think we need *some* documentation helping them deal with what could well seem like a step backwards in Python 3.5... If I knew what the best (recommended) answer was, I'd be happy to write it up. But I'm not sure I do (after all, the target audience is people for whom "Add C:\PythonXY\Scripts to your PATH" was a problem in the pre-3.4 days). Should I raise this as a bug against the 3.5 documentation? If so, should it be a release blocker for the final release? Paul
On 9 March 2015 at 21:19, Paul Moore
Should I raise this as a bug against the 3.5 documentation? If so, should it be a release blocker for the final release?
I'm happy to let the folks that use Windows for development regularly decide on the best answer from a user experience perspective, but I think a release blocker docs issue would be a good way to go for ensuring it gets resolved be the release goes out. Regards, Nick. -- Nick Coghlan | ncoghlan@gmail.com | Brisbane, Australia
On 9 March 2015 at 13:45, Nick Coghlan
I'm happy to let the folks that use Windows for development regularly decide on the best answer from a user experience perspective, but I think a release blocker docs issue would be a good way to go for ensuring it gets resolved be the release goes out.
participants (2)
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Nick Coghlan
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Paul Moore