[Python-Dev] PEP 297: Support for System Upgrades

[Guido van Rossum]

> Ok, I've started looking at adding support for this. Here's
> a couple of things I found:
> 
> * getpath.c:
>     Some of the '/' path delimiters are hard coded; shouldn't
>     these be replaced with SEP ?

All the platforms that I'm awware of that don't use '/' have their own
getpath.c copy anyway (the one for Windows is PC/getpathp.c).

> * There's no easy way to find the first item on sys.path which
>    starts the default path added by Python at startup time. It seems
>    that a suffix search for "python23.zip" gives the best hint.
>    The only other possibility I see is writing the support code
>    directly into getpath.c.

That's where I'd put it, yes.

> * site.py contains code which prefixes "site-packages" with both
>    sys.prefix and sys.exec_prefix. Is this really used anywhere ?
>    (distutils and the old Makefile.pre.in both install to
>    sys.prefix per default)

I thought they might install extension modules in exec_prefix.  But
maybe it's a YAGNI.

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