[Python-Dev] Building on Windows (was Re: A "new" kind of leak)

[Tim Peters]

[Andy Robinson]
> You do know how to turn on command line completion? ;-)

Not on Win98, no <wink>.  There I do more work in a Cygwin shell.

> HKCU | HKLM -> Software -> Microsoft -> Command Processor ->
> CompletionChar -> 0x00009
> and then the tab key completes.  (You may need to restart any
> current DOS boxes)
>
> This works on Win2k and NT4.

There's another completion char available at least under Win2K, like the
above except PathCompletionChar.  The latter only expands to directory
names, and regardless of context (CompletionChar sticks to directory names
when it knows one is required, like after "cd" or "rd").

> There are better shells available for Win98 somewhere, but the NT/2000
> batch language is pretty capable.  Not as well understood, but you can
> automate lots of processes.

The little bit of .bat automation checked into Python's CVS is written to
the lowest common Windows denominator (command.com).  The automation I've
written beyond that is unique to me (which isn't good), and relies on batch
run-capture-parse facilities supplied by my editor (which is worse, since
I'm its only known user <wink>).

> Not that I dispute yur basic thesis - we've managed to avoid
> branching at ReportLab to date for exactly this reason :-)

So do older releases never get bugfixes?  Or you've got no bugs?  In either
case, can you keep that up for 10 years <wink>?  Sell Python support on the
side, and if there's an actual paying market for it, it's OK by us if you
get filthy rich off it.