[Distutils] Beyond wheels 1.0: helping downstream, FHS and more

[Chris Barker - NOAA Federal]

For the most part, I think it's all been said. What should and
shouldn't  be installed by default is really specific extension
dependent, not much point in speculating.

But a comment or two:


 having to type
> "python -m something" rather than just "something" isn't broken, it's
> just an inconvenience.

Tell that to a newbie. This is EXACTLY the kind of thing that should
"just work".

Maybe a three-tier system:

1) mandatory -- can't install without it

2) default -- try to install it be default if possible

3) optional: only install if specifically asked for

And this isn't just about extensions -- for instance, the "all" stuff
in iPython would be well served by level 2

> It's no different conceptually than the fact that if you
> don't have a C compiler, you can't install a package that contains C

Sure it is -- a C complier is a system tool, and the whole point of
binary wheels is that the end user doesn't need one.

-CHB