[Python-bugs-list] Python 1.6a1 - installation report (PR#263)

[Guido van Rossum]

> Hello.  This is an installation report for Python 1.6a1 on a SuSE 6.2
> Linux system, using a 2.2.10 kernel, gcc 2.7.2 and GNU libc 2.1.1.  I used
> http://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/Mirrors/ftp.python.org/pub/www.python.org to
> get the distribution, as www.python.org was rejecting contact requests.
> 
> The system I use is usually not Internet-connected (this complicates the
> uploads a bit :-), and so, I will not be able to take advantage of the
> nice module dynamic upload facilities that were described on Aprit 1st! :-)
> 
> Python was configured using no special configuration switches, and
> configuration seemingly completed without problems.  Compilation yielded
> a single diagnostic:
> 
> ----->
> make[1]: Entre dans le répertoire `/var/tmp/python-1.6a1/Modules'
> ./timemodule.c: In function `time_strptime':
> ./timemodule.c:428: warning: assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast
> -----<

Seems a bug in Linux -- apparently strptime() is not declared
anywhere.  Or if it is, it is in a header file of its own.  Do you
know which header file, and how I can know if it's a good idea to
#include it?

> The `make install' command, which was:
> 
> ----->
> make -f Makefile prefix=/usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1 exec_prefix=/usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1 install
> -----<
> 
> raised that difficulty:
> 
> ----->
> Creating directory /usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/bin
> mkdir: Ne peut créer le répertoire `/usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/bin'.: No such file or directory
> -----<
> 
> Creating `/usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1' by hand and reinstalling allowed
> Python to get in its place, yet for all Autoconf-igured packages I installed
> here, this is not necessary so far that I remember.  Maybe Python does
> not use `mkinstalldirs' (I did not check)?  If not, it should do similarly.

There is reason to this (plus I don't like being told to follow the GNU
guidelines -- Python is not GNU software :-).

The directories named in $exec_prefix and $prefix must already exist.
In your case, it seems that /usr/local/stow did not exist; is this correct?
Anything under $*prefix will be created by the install script.

The reason for requiring $*prefix to pre-exist is that (a) this is
almost always the case (the prefix is typically /usr/local or /usr),
and (b) if it doesn't exist, it's likely that the user made a typo
(rather than that they wanted Python to create a brand new typo).

That's why I don't use mkinstalldirs.

> Auto-compilation of installed Python sources (I presume that the installation
> is careful to use its own Python), yielded a few warnings and errors,
> listed below:
> 
> ----->
> [...]
> Compiling /usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6/asynchat.py ...
> Tab size set to 4
> Compiling /usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6/asyncore.py ...
> Tab size set to 4
> [...]
> Compiling /usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6/sre.py ...
> Tab size set to 4

Oops, that's a debug message.  Thanks!  Fixed now -- the message is
only printed with -v.

>   File "/usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6/sre.py", line 17
>     
>     ^
> SyntaxError: invalid syntax
> Compiling /usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6/sre_compile.py ...
>   File "/usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6/sre_compile.py", line 16
>     
>     ^
> SyntaxError: invalid syntax
> Compiling /usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6/sre_constants.py ...
>   File "/usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6/sre_constants.py", line 17
>     
>     ^
> SyntaxError: invalid syntax
> Compiling /usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6/sre_parse.py ...
>   File "/usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6/sre_parse.py", line 18
>     
>     ^
> SyntaxError: invalid syntax
> [...]
> Compiling /usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6/test/test_pyexpat.py ...
> <string>: inconsistent tab/space usage
> -----<

Sorry!  I accidentally checked in a version that still had the CRLF
line endings.  Fixed now.

> And then, it seems the whole compilation is launched once more through:
> 
> ----->
> PYTHONPATH=/usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6 \
> 		./python -O /usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6/compileall.py /usr/local/stow/python-1.6a1/lib/python1.6
> -----<
> 
> yielding the same set errors for a second time.

That's to create the .pyo files -- notice that it uses python -O the
second time.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)