[Distutils] PEX at Twitter (re: PEX - Twitter's multi-platform executable archive format for Python)

[Paul Moore]

On 1 February 2014 09:36, Vinay Sajip <vinay_sajip at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> While recent versions
> of Windows have symlinks more like POSIX symlinks, XP only has a
> stunted version called "reparse points" or "junction points" which are
> not really fit for purpose. I think you'll find that XP environments are found
> in rather more than "a tiny number of cases", and even though Microsoft
> has end-of-lifed XP in terms of support, I fear it'll be around for a while
> yet.

One crippling thing about even recent Windows symlink support is that
to create a symlink requires elevation. There is a user right that can
be assigned to allow creation of symling without elevation, but
bizarrely (and, I gather, deliberately!) Windows strips that right
from administrative accounts - so you have a situation where a normal
user with the right can create symlinks, but an administrator with the
same right still needs elevation. And a major proportion of Windows
accounts are administrators.

Sigh. One day they might get it right.
Paul