[Distutils] DistUtils requirements

[John Skaller]

At 10:22 10/12/98 -0500, Fred L. Drake wrote:
>
>Konrad Hinsen writes:
> > - Package installation via FTP/HTTP from a server. That may seem like
> >   a minor convenience, but once you realize how many system administrators
> >   don't know how to use FTP, it gains importance...
>
>  This, in particular, seems to indicate that an additional script is
>installed along with Python.
>  What's been discussed so far is how to build/install an unpacked
>distribution.

        I think this indicates a 'design bug'. It shouldn't
be necessary to unpack anything. Python can read data straight
out of ZIP/Tar files. I mean: it can't at the moment,
but it is on the TODO list.

        This requires some support from Python itself,
but I feel Guido will be wll disposed to being able
to access a package which is packed in an archive.
[I.e. 'import' directly from the archive, _without_
unpacking it]

        This is also on the Interscript TODO list:
interscript can already read files by FTP, HTTP,
as well as from the local file system, but it cannot
read files from archives. But the modules required
to do this seem to be part of the standard distribution
already.
-------------------------------------------------------
John Skaller    email: skaller@maxtal.com.au
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