[Python-Dev] installing IDLE & other Tools

[Guido van Rossum]

>   GvR> Maybe we can extend this idea to Unix.  Concrete proposal:
>   GvR> install IDLE as
>   GvR> <prefix>/lib/python<version>/site-packages/Tools/idle/, and
>   GvR> place a symlink or 2-line bootstrap script in
>   GvR> <prefix>/bin/idle.
> 
> How about
> <prefix>/lib/python<version>/Tools/idle
> instead.  I suggest the change to support an until-now-implicit policy
> that anything in site-packages actually be a package.  If things in
> site-packages aren't supposed to be packages, it ought to be called
> something like site-tools <0.2 wink>.

Fine.

>   GvR> The introduction of the extra directory level "Tools" implies
>   GvR> that idle is not importable as a package from regular Python.
>   GvR> This is how I want it -- otherwise I could/would have made IDLE
>   GvR> a package in the Lib/lib-tk directory instead of a directory in
>   GvR> Tools.
> 
> I think the extra Tools directory still implies this, even if it isn't
> in site-packages.

Sure.

>   GvR> I'd gladly accept a contribution of a setup.py file that does
>   GvR> this for me.  (I looked at the distutils manual for a bit but
>   GvR> decided that I'd have to read it cover-to-cover to figure out
>   GvR> whether what I want is even possible...)
> 
> Is there a reason why IDLE has this peculiar installation process?
> Might there be a better way to do it now that we have distutils.  If
> there is, we could put it in PEP 42.

IDLE doesn't have a peculiar installation process, but it may not be
what distutils is currently good at.  IDLE is an application that
needs its files installed somewhere but not on the module search path
for other apps.  I don't know how to do that!

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