[Python-Dev] What to choose to replace Tkinter?

[Guido van Rossum]

> I think a version of Tkinter packaged with a distutils setup script is
> the best answer for Unix platforms.  As a Linux user, I do *not* want
> to install a second copy of Tcl/Tk.

Why not?  Because if every app using Tcl/Tk did that there would be
hundreds of copies of Tcl/Tk on your disk?  I don't think that
argument flies; only a few other major languages use Tcl/Tk this was,
so maybe you'd end up with 4 copies of Tcl/Tk: one for Tcl/Tk itself,
one for Python+Tkinter, one for Perl/Tk (that's a separate code base
anyway so you already have this today -- if you install Perl/Tk, that
is), and one for Ruby.  Given modern disk sizes I don't think it's a
problem.  We do the same for Windows, for good reasons: so we can be
independent of whatever Tcl/Tk version is already installed.

> If we have a distutil-Tkinter, e.g. 
>     ftp://ftp.python.org/pub/python/2.0/Tkinter-2.0-8.0.tar.gz
> then a user can download it and run "python setup.py install" to build
> a Tkinter against their installed version of Tk.  This will be
> straightforward on many Linux systems, because they ship with Tk
> installed.

Of course that's easier.  But less robust.  (And why is there an "8.0"
in the filename if it works with other Tcl/Tk versions???)

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