[Python-Dev] DLL in the system directory on Windows.

[Gordon McMillan]

[Guido]
> I'm waiting for Tim Peters' response in this thread -- if I recall he
> was the one who said that python1x.dll should not go into the system
> directory.

Some time ago Tim and I said that the place for a DLL that is 
intimately tied to an EXE is in the EXE's directory.

The search path:
 1) the EXE's directory
 2) the current directory (useless)
 3) the system directory
 4) the Windows directory
 5) the PATH 
 
For a general purpose DLL, that makes the system directory 
the only sane choice (if modifying PATH was sane, then 
PATH would be saner, but a SpecTCL will just screw you up).

Things that go in the system directory should maintain 
backwards compatibility. For a DLL, that means all the old 
entry points are still there, in the same order with new ones at 
the end. For Python, there's no crying need to conform for 
now, but if (when?) embedding Python becomes ubiquitous, 
this (or some other scheme) may need to be considered.

- Gordon