[Python-Dev] [Pydotorg] Should we help pythonmac.org?

[Barry Warsaw]

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On Aug 19, 2008, at 8:51 AM, Fred Drake wrote:

> My understanding is that if there is a system Python, you shouldn't  
> change it.  Ever.

Huge, big, honkin' +1 from me on that.  Besides, for a system Python,  
you want your distribution to manage packages, not setuptools,  
otherwise you confuse -- and probably break -- your system.

As a corollary, a system Python script should never ever use #!/usr/ 
bin/env python as its first line.  It should always use /usr/bin/ 
python because that's the only thing it can guarantee it knows  
anything about.

I've had several discussions with distro vendors about this, some at  
Pycon and others I'm more intimately involved with <wink>.  I think  
there's general agreement about these principles, even if it's not  
always implemented correctly for every tool (but that's what bug  
reports are for :).

- -Barry

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