[Python-Dev] [Distutils] How we can get rid of eggs for 2.6 and beyond

[Paul Moore]

On 22/03/2008, "Martin v. Löwis" <martin at v.loewis.de> wrote:
> How would you install multiple versions in the first place? Python
>  supports no such thing, at least not without setting PYTHONPATH,
>  or otherwise changing sys.path.

That's an unrelated feature of setuptools, providing a way to
"install" multiple versions of a package and select which version you
want at runtime. It does this by sys.path manipulation, I believe.

It's a good example of the sort of orthogonal feature which makes
setuptools such an issue. It's a genuinely useful feature to some
people, but it's unrelated to packaging and installation, so people
buy into a packaging solution (eggs) for the non-packaging benefits
they provide.

Paul.