[Python-Dev] Capsule Summary of Some Packaging/Deployment Technology Concerns

[Matthias Klose]

Phillip J. Eby writes:
> >7. Many wanted to ability to install files anywhere in the install tree and
> >     not just under the Python package.  Under distutils this was possible but
> >     it was removed in setuptools for security reasons.
> 
> It wasn't security, it was manageability.  Egg-based installation 
> means containment, (analagous to GNU stow) and therefore portability 
> and disposability of plugins.  (Which again is what eggs were really 
> developed for in the first place.)

defining containment this way doesn't help when preparing eggs for
inclusion in a linux distribution.  E.g. users on these distributions
are used to find log files in /var/log (maybe in a subdir),
documentation in /usr/share/doc/<package name>.  You probably will get
different views about manageability depending on your background (used
to linux distribution standards or used to standards set by
setuptools/cheeseshop).  Packagers currently move these files manually
to the standard locations and often have to keep symlinks in the egg
dirs to these locations.  Installation on linux distributions is
handled by existing package tools which is unlikely to change.  So it
would be nice to find a common layer which can be used for both
distribution methods, optionally enabling this with some kind of
option like --install-files-in-places-not-handled-by-setuptools ;)

  Matthias