[Python-Dev] Un-stalling Berkeley DB support

[Eric S. Raymond]

I'm still interested in getting support for the version 3 Berkeley DB
into the core.  This is one of my top three Python priorities currently, along
with drafting PEP2 and overhauling the curses HOWTO.  (I'd sure like to see
shm get in, too, but that's blocked on Vladimir writing suitable documentation,
too.

I'd like to get the necessary C extension in before 2.0 freeze, if
possible.  I've copied its author.  Again, the motivation here is to make
shelving transactional, with useful read-many/write-once guarantees.
Thousands of CGI programmers would thank us for this.

When we last discussed this subject, there was general support for the
functionality, but a couple of people went "bletch!" about SWIG-generated
code (there was unhappiness about pointers being treated as strings).

Somebody said something about having SWIG patches to address this.  Is this
the only real issue with SWIG-generated code?  If so, we can pursue two paths:
(1) Hand Greg a patched SWIG so he can release a 2.1.2 version of the DB
extension that meets our cleanliness criteria, and (2) press the SWIG guy 
to incorporate these patches in his next release.
-- 
		<a href="http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr">Eric S. Raymond</a>

"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be
properly armed."
        -- Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-188