[Python-3000] [Python-Dev] 2.6.1 and 3.0

[Joseph Armbruster]

Martin,

What is the rationale behind using an MSI ?  Has anyone attempted to create
a Python installer using something a bit simpler, like NSIS [
http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page]?  If not, what are the reasons?

Joe

On Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 3:03 PM, "Martin v. Löwis" <martin at v.loewis.de>wrote:

> > I always wondered why it was necessary to write msi.py in the first
> > place. Maintaining it is surely a big effort and requires understanding
> > of a dark library which a few people have (IMO it's a much higher effort
> > than setting up automated tests in a bunch of VM, which you said is "not
> > worth it").
> >
> > There are plenty of MSI installer generator programs
>
> Originally it was written because none of the MSI generator programs
> were capable of packaging Python. In particular, none was capable of
> creating 64-bit packages (which were first needed to create the
> Itanium packages).
>
> > and Python's needs
> > do not seem so weird to require a custom MSI generator.
>
> Python's needs are fairly weird, so I'm very skeptical that any other
> generator is capable of doing what msi.py does (or, if it was capable
> of doing that, that it was then any simpler than msi.py).
>
> The critical part is that you need a powerful way to specify what files
> to package (having to select them in a UI is unacceptable, as the set
> of files constantly changes - the current generator can cope with many
> types of file additions without needing any change).
>
> > I'm sure the
> > Python Software Foundation would easily get a free license of one of the
> > good commercial MSI installer generators.
>
> Can you recommend a specific one?
>
> In addition, I'm also skeptical wrt. commercial setup tools. We had been
> using Wise for a while, and it was a management problem because the
> license was only available on a single machine - so it was difficult
> for anybody else to jump in and do a release.
>
> > In short: if msi.py and the fact it breaks is part of the issue here,
> > it's very easy to solve in my opinion.
>
> I'm very skeptical that this statement is actually true.
>
> Regards,
> Martin
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