[Distutils] RE: [Crew] Wizards' Resolution to Zope/PIL/mxDateTime conflict?

[Michael P. Reilly]

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> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Tom Bryan [SMTP:tbryan@server.python.net]
> > Sent: June 17, 1999 12:19 PM
> > To: Crew List
> > Subject: Re: [Crew] Wizards' Resolution to Zope/PIL/mxDateTime
> > conflict?
> > 
> > Perhaps this discussion should be moved to the PSA list or to the
> > comp.lang.python newsgroup.  The Starship isn't going to be the only
> > computer with this problem.  We juat are going to be one of the few
> > machines that currently has *many* third-party extensions to Python.  As
> > Python grows in popularity, this problem is only going to get worse.  In
> > the worst case scenario, people won't be able to use a Python solution
> > because the required third-party extensions conflict and they don't want
> > to kludge it all together themselves.

> It seems to me perhaps the simplest solution is, dare I say
> it, Bureaucracy!  Okay, now that I got you all riled up, let me explain.
> Right now, anyone can go write a Python package and post it up all over the
> place, helter-skelter.  It may even appear on www.python.org.  However, if
> I'm writing Package A and you have written package B unbeknownst to me, I
> might be stepping on your toes.  That is to say, if my package does the same
> thing, so what? more choice to the hacker.  The problem is when I CALL my
> module/package the same thing as you.  It is this naming convention that
> needs to be cleaned up, as I see it.  Rather than come up with some complex
> scheme of installation or some major changes to the python language,
> wouldn't it just be simpler to standardize our naming now, before Python
> does reach the 10,000,000 user mark?  That is, rather then trying to come up
> with an installation-level solution, why not just have someone review all
> packages for conflicts on a first-come-first-serve basis?  Set up a
> committee of Python certification which will basically go through each new
> package and install it on a max-install station.  If there are no conflicts,
> the package is certified and the author gets official recognition.  If there
> is conflict, a polite e-mail can be sent to the author suggesting he or she
> modify / change the name(s) chosen for his or her package to avoid future
> conflict potential.

[Other discussion snipped]

> Be Seeing You,
> 
> Jeffrey.

Jeffrey, there is already a service for this, Guido set it up some time
ago:  go to http://www.python.org/search/ and select the link "The Python
module registry at NIST".

This service needs more press and perhaps more "peer pressure" from
module authors.

  -Arcege