[Distutils] RFC: Binary Distribution Format for distutils2/packaging

[Chris Barker]

On Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 3:05 PM, Zvezdan Petkovic <zvezdan at computer.org> wrote:
>> 1) there are folks that want to do a little python that don't have any
>> experience or interest in the whole C building thing -- and to get the
>> compiler on the Mac, you need to register with Mac Developer
>> connection, then download a MASSIVE binary -- it's not a trivial lift.
>
> Not any more.
> You can install XCode from Mac App store as an application now instead of an installation bundle/image.

nicer -- though I imagine it's still a huge download.

> Also, the membership in the Mac Developer connection is not required.
> Only if you are going to sign apps for Mac or iOS you need the membership.  For a casual user who needs a C compiler and finds XCode on the Mac App
store it's not required.

nice to know.

However, the fact remains that there are folks that just want to write
some Python code -- Also, aside from the compiler, it's still can be a
pain to build stuff that requires dependencies (yes, I know about
homebrew, macports, fink -- the point still stands)

I think it's important to support that part of the community.

NOTE: on Windows, you can simply install the right version of Visual
Studio Express, and get building capability there, too -- but there is
still a real desire for binaries.

-Chris

-- 

Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
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