[Edu-sig] re: license

[Arthur]

>     "Not only does VPython install in non-standard places, it includes
>     Numeric, but installs Numeric differently than Numeric installs
>     itself on a standalone basis."

You're going to be sorry you got me started on this one.

Also in the archive is my suggestion to Bruce as to his web page:

''''
VPython includes:

  a.. the Python programming language
  b.. an enhanced version of the Idle interactive development environment
  c.. "Visual", a Python module that offers real-time 3D output, and is
easily usable by novice programmers
''''

Now of course, VPython does not "include" the Python programming langauge.
In any sense.  Its not part of the distribution.  But let's leave that
aside.

VPython does *very much* include Numeric.  It is in fact the bulk of the
bulk of the VPython download.

Bruce - shouldn't you mention that VPython includes Nunmeric - because:

A) it does
B) its cool
C) its integral to working with VPython.
C) its other people's work and effort

Got as far as I did on the on the help index issue.

Kirby -

don't make me spell it out more than I have to.

What VPython is and who is responsible for what gets obscured in a haze of
bad practice.

These are things that should be clear as a bell, all ambiguity removed.  In
BOLD LETTERS.

I also pointed out to Bruce that if someone already had Numeric installed
when they downloaded VPython, and did an unisntall on VPython, their prior
Numeric - which they had no intention of removing - is gone.

Oh yeah.  He said he could understand how that might be a problem and he
apologized if that happended to me.

I told him it did not happen to me.  That I work with VPython extensively,
like it quite a bit, and have no reason to uninstall it.  But that the
distribution structure was flawed in that respect.  No further response.

I see no reasonable reason to have a bad distribution of Numeric bundled
with a bad distribution of VPython.  Numeric's install is flawless, on all
platforms.

Including - paying attention Jason - the Windows self-installing executable
built with distutils.

The reasonable and rational methodology is a link to the Numeric download
site. With the added bonus that at least there one finds out at little bit
about what one is downloading and who is responsible for it.  That's a good
thing to know - *even* for physics students.  No?

To answer your question.

The Numeric install creates one master directory for Numeric under site
packages, and a directory structure under that for its separate packages.

The VPython install of Numeric creates a separate site-package directory for
each component of Numeric -  FFT, etc.

The Numeric install is better.

Art