[Distutils] Static metadata using setup.cfg

[Ronald Oussoren]

On 7 Sep, 2009, at 14:15, Chris Withers wrote:

> I'd prefer setup.cfg to be totally static. If there are complicated  
> if/then/else's needed, they should be in setup.py.

I have a number of packages where the only logic on setup.py is set  
flags based on the python version or OS. Examples:
* depend on pysqlite in old versions of python where sqlite wasn't in  
the stdlib
* select different compiler flags based for Linux vs. Windows for a C  
extension

It would be nice if those could be expressed in a setup.cfg(.in) file,  
because that way to can introspect these packages without having to  
execute a setup.py file.

>
> As soon as this file becomes dynamic, we're back in the situation  
> where you can't tell what a package requires without installing it,  
> which is something I'd really like to not have to do.

I agree that the file shouldn't be too dynamic, we don't need a full  
programming language in setup.cfg because we already have setup.py  
files.

The proof of concept already severely limits what constructs the  
template can use, and those should both be enough for most python  
packages and simple enough to allow easy introspection.

Ronald

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