[Python-Dev] setuptools: past, present, future

[Nick Coghlan]

Phillip J. Eby wrote:
> At 12:22 AM 4/22/2006 -0400, Terry Reedy wrote:
>> Why can't you remove the heuristic and screen-scrape info-search code
>>from the easy_install client and run one spider that would check
>> new/revised PyPI entries, search for missing info, insert it into PyPI when
>> found (and mark the entry eggified), or email the package author or a human
>> search volunteer if it does not find enough?
> 
> I actually considered that at one point.  After all, I certainly have the 
> technology.
> 
> However, I didn't consider it for more than 10 seconds or so.  Package 
> authors have no reason to listen to some random guy with a bot -- but they 
> do have reasons to listen to their users, both actual and potential.

I'm not sure that's what Terry meant - I took it to mean *make the spider part 
of PyPI itself*.

So, when you do a PyPI upload, PyPI's spider is triggered, trawls through 
whatever was uploaded, and adds the results of the search to the PyPI entry 
for later use by easy_install (e.g under a "Easy Install Info" section - or 
possibly even a separate page).

If there are any problems, PyPI emails the person responsible for the package 
upload. So any problem reports wouldn't be coming from some random guy with a 
bot, they'd be coming from PyPI itself.

Then all the heuristics and screen-scraping would be server-side - all 
easy_install would have to do is look at the meta-data provided by the PyPI 
spider.

Cheers,
Nick.

P.S. I still prefer Py-pee-eye to Cheeseshop. The old name makes even more 
sense if Phillip's heuristic scan gets added :)

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia
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             http://www.boredomandlaziness.org