[Distutils] Behaviour of "install_data" changed

[Greg Ward]

On 26 June 2000, Rene Liebscher said:
> Would you like to have a complete new concept, which could solve all
> your
> problems? Here it is.

Aiieeee!  "Complete" or "complicated"?!?

> I would like to introduce a class 'Data_Files' similar to the
> 'Extension'
> class.

Conceptual problem here: Python extensions are fairly complicated
beasts, with lots of knobs to twiddle.  Data files are not: they have a
source filename, a destination directory, and that's about it.

I kinda like the ability to specify an "abstract base directory" ie. one
of the keys to the installation scheme dictionary.  But that's not
compelling enough.

I think the use of the manifest template machinery is complete overkill.
What's wrong with os.glob()?  Even in a really complex case, where the
manifest machinery would be useful, I think it would be better just to
expose it as one of the "utility classes" that Distutils makes available
to authors of setup scripts, rather than working it intimately into the
specification of data files, which ought to be fairly simple.

> I think this can solve all our problems.

Except for code bloat.  >smirk<

Sorry, that was low.  Oh well, sometimes I just have to be mean, and
tonight is one of those times.

Final excuse: it's getting to close to Distutils 0.9/Python 1.6b1 to do
major renovations.  Bug fixes only, please.

        Greg
-- 
Greg Ward - programmer-at-large                         gward@python.net
http://starship.python.net/~gward/
A man without religion is like a fish without a bicycle.