[Numpy-discussion] Which Python to Use on OSX, Was: 1.1.0 OSX Installer Fails Under 10.5.3?

[J. Stark]

Robert,

I see your point, but why not just install a separate NumPy to run 
with the system Python? That is what I have always done in the past 
without problems.

I guess I always feel a sense of uncertainty with having two separate 
Python installations as to which actually gets used in any particular 
situation. I appreciate that for experts who use Python daily, this 
isn't an issue, but for someone like myself who may have gaps of 
several months between projects that use Python, this is a real issue 
as I forget those kinds of subtleties.

J.

>On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 1:48 AM, J. Stark <j.stark at imperial.ac.uk> wrote:
>>  On this topic, I would be interested to hear people's advice on using
>>  the system provided Python v an independent install. In 25 years of
>>  using Macs I have learned through several painful lessons that its
>>  wise to customize the system as little as possible: this minimizes
>>  both conflicts and reduces problems when doing system upgrades. I
>>  have therefore always used the default Python provided by OSX, so far
>>  with no obvious disadvantages for the types of scripts I use
>>  (primarily home written SciPy scientific code). However, I note that
>>  many people run either the pythomac.org distribution, or the
>>  ActiveState. What are the advantages to this?
>
>By installing a separate Python, you are actually customizing the
>system *less* than if you used the system Python and installed a bunch
>of extra packages. Parts of Apple's software uses the system Python.
>If you upgrade packages inside there (like numpy!) you might run into
>problems.
>
>--
>Robert Kern
>
>"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless
>enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as
>though it had an underlying truth."
>  -- Umberto Eco