[Distutils] setuptools pain

[Barry Warsaw]

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Hi Phillip, thanks for the response.

On Dec 25, 2007, at 11:58 PM, Phillip J. Eby wrote:

> At 05:51 PM 12/23/2007 -0500, Barry Warsaw wrote:
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>> setuptools is causing me pain lately.  Something's clearly broken,  
>> but
>> setuptools is not helping me understand what, or how to fix it.
>>
>> % /opt/local/bin/python2.5 setup.py develop -d staging
>> running develop
>> running egg_info
>> creating mailman.egg-info
>> writing requirements to mailman.egg-info/requires.txt
>> writing mailman.egg-info/PKG-INFO
>> writing top-level names to mailman.egg-info/top_level.txt
>> writing dependency_links to mailman.egg-info/dependency_links.txt
>> writing entry points to mailman.egg-info/entry_points.txt
>> writing manifest file 'mailman.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
>> reading manifest template 'MANIFEST.in'
>> writing manifest file 'mailman.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
>> running build_ext
>> error: /opt/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/site.py: No such file  
>> or
>> directory
>
> You have a broken setuptools installation in /opt, which is missing  
> site.py.  I'm afraid that setuptools isn't designed to gracefully  
> handle the situation where random files are simply missing from the  
> installation.

Would it be possible to just print the traceback?  I haven't looked at  
the code, but a traceback at least would have helped me narrow down  
where setuptools was unhappy.  The above error message really gives me  
no clue about where to go next, what to look for, or how to debug and  
fix the problem.  Even a simple "Hey, your setuptools installation is  
broken, better reinstall it!" would have been very helpful.

> I'm going to guess that it's missing because it was installed using  
> an RPM or some other package put together by someone who had the  
> hubris to assume that I would actually include files in setuptools  
> that aren't *necessary* for its operation, and that it would  
> therefore be "better" for them to remove it.  If this is the case,  
> please educate them regarding the error of their ways -- it will be  
> taken more seriously from an actual user bitten by it, than from me.

This is the MacPorts version of Python, so I guess I have to shame  
them for busting setuptools.  I ended up re-installing it manually to  
make it happy again.  Your explanation about the root problem was  
helpful in understanding that this was probably the right course of  
action. :)  Maybe I'll try to figure out why the MacPorts version broke.

>> % rm -rf mailman.egg-info
>> % /usr/local/bin/python2.5 setup.py develop -d staging
>
> I notice here you're using /usr instead of opt, and this worked, so  
> it appears you have two setuptools installations: one working and  
> one not.  Be sure to praise the originator of your working  
> installation as much as you shame the culprit responsible for your  
> broken one.  :)

Yes, /usr/local/bin/python2.5 is the one I built and installed from  
source, so I thank me for a working setuptools installation there!   
Way to go Barry! :)

The other thing I didn't understand is why I got a different error  
message after the first "setup.py develop" and why it took deleting  
mailman.egg-info to get the original error message back.  Maybe I  
should look at the setuptools code more carefully. <wink>

Thanks,
- -Barry

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