[Python-Dev] PEP 376 - Open questions

[Ronald Oussoren]

On 6 Jul, 2009, at 20:38, Paul Moore wrote:
>
> - Should distribution names be case insensitive on case insensitive
> filesystems? For comparison, module/package names are always case
> sensitive even on case insensitive systems.

I'd then go for case sensitive names for distributions as well, just  
to be consistent. But isn't the actual name in the PKG-INFO file anyway?

Do you mean really case insensive filesystems like DOS' FAT, or case  
preserving (HFS+ on OSX, NTFS on Windows)? For the latter you can at  
least get the original name back using os.readdir.

BTW. Actually determining if you are working with a case-sensitive  
fileystem requires filesystem access, os.path.normcase is hopelessly  
naieve in that respect.  I'm reguarly dealing with NFS mounted  
filesystems on OSX systems, which means that parts of a path are case  
preserving (the HFS+ filesystem upto the mount point) and other parts  
are truly case sensitive (paths on the NFS mounted filesystem  
originating on a Linux server).

Ronald