[Python-Dev] Why are useful tools omitted from the Win bin distro?

[Guido van Rossum]

> Just helped some people on the Italian Python mailing list find some 
> indispensable tool (Tools/i18n/pygettext.py, in this specific case) and 
> they expressed astonishment that the tool isn't in the standard Windows 
> binary distribution, which was all they had downloaded.  This set me to 
> wondering -- is there any reason why this and other tools &c should NOT be 
> included in that binary?  Could we add them in 2.2.2 and later releases?

Good idea.  I think it was a simple oversight -- adding anything from
the Tools directory is not automatic, Tim has to add lines to the
Windows installer script.

I believe that the following Tools subdirectories are currently being
distributed:

idle
scripts
webchecker
versioncheck
pynche

That means these are not:

audiopy (Solaris only)
bgen (only used by Mac developers AFAIK)
compiler (experimental AFAIK)
faqwiz (only useful for people running web servers)
framer (new in 2.3)
freeze (only useful for developers?)
i18n
modulator (only useful for developers)
unicode (only useful for developers?)
world

Of these, I think i18n and world are candidates for inclusion on the
Windows installer.

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