[Python-Dev] Re: [Distutils] Questions about distutils strategy

[Gordon McMillan]

Guido,
 
> Gordon, I'm sorry, but from this description I still have no idea
> what your stuff is (and I forgot the URL so I can't look it up). 

http://starship.python.org/crew/gmcm/installer.html

The Linux stuff has a couple alpha testers and will probably 
get announced in a week or two.

> For example, if it's not (just) for installing, what *is* it for?
 
At the bottom level, it's a bunch of tools using freeze's 
modulefinder, imputil.py and 2 kinds of archives. There's at 
least 2 layers above that, with "Installer" being the top.  
There's a clean separation between the layers, so you can 
break in wherever you like.

> What is the ``"manifest" problem'' and how did you solve it?

The problem is specifying a set of resources, hopefully without 
having to list them explicitly. I solve this with a config file that 
lets you specify packages, directories, directory trees.. with 
filters that can work from paths, names, extensions, regular 
expressions...
 
> Also, note that editing site.py is a no-no!  You can create/edit
> sitecustomize.py, but you should leave site.py alone!

That would work fine. One of the standalone configurations will 
write a site.py, but that's for a completely self-contained 
installation (ie, one which will have no conflicts with another 
Python installation). 

I'd also note that, for Windows at least, the path-expanding 
mechanism created by site.py has not caught on. I've got lots 
installed, and no site-python, site-packages or sitecustomize.


- Gordon