[Python-Dev] Windows package for new SSL package?

[David Bolen]

"Mark Hammond" <mhammond at skippinet.com.au> writes:

> It might be possible to try and use build_ssl.py to locate the openssl
> directory, but this will still require that someone building it has Python
> built from source - I'm fairly sure that someone installing a Python binary
> will not have build_ssl.py, nor are they likely to have a suitable openssl
> directory or installation just "hanging around" either.

Yep - even if a Windows user has an appropriate development
environment in general (and can build most standalone extensions with
just a binary Python install), as you say the odds are pretty small
they'd have an OpenSSL source tree around, with libraries built.

At the same time, I suspect that only a small percentage of Windows
users will want to rebuild the extension - rather they'll just want a
binary installer, something not uncommon to be published for Windows
users of many extension modules.  So that pushes the problem upstream
a bit where having a Python development tree might be more common or
familiar.

Rather than a lot of complexity to cater to that small percentage, I'd
probably just make setup.py need an explicit configuration - editing,
or perhaps environment variable - for the location of the root of the
OpenSSL source tree.  As you say, there's no guaranteed way to find it
otherwise, although I suppose it might try checking relative to the
Python executable (along the same lines as build_ssl.py) in case it's
being built from within the source tree.

Adding some comments that following instructions to build Python from
source (or at least the standard _ssl module) will yield just such a
tree should be a simple enough as a reference for those who need it.

The setup.py does also need to understand the different library names
(and required system libraries) to build properly under Windows, as
you've already highlighted, but that should be relatively easy to vary
by platform.

-- David