[Python-Dev] Integrate BeautifulSoup into stdlib?

["Martin v. Löwis"]

> But I don't think that a "normal" Lunix user should ever have to involve
> themselves directly with distutils or setuptools (it's OK to invoke them
> from the installation routine, but not to require the user to unpack the
> application then run setup.py).

I completely agree. It would be best if the Linux distribution provided
packages for most of the stuff (in RPM or deb format as appropriate),
and volunteers provided a repository of packages in a format that the
native package management tool actually understands (rather than
PyPI - although it might be useful to have PyPI provide a Debian
package repository for all projects that upload .deb files)

> I am afraid that distutils, and
> setuptools, are not really the answer to the problem, since while they
> may (as intended) guarantee that Python applications can be installed
> uniformly across different platforms they also more or less guarantee
> that Python applications are installed differently from all other
> applications on the platform.

Ah, so we are clearly in agreement here.

> Mike Driscoll did some work providing Windows installers for various
> Python packages and extension modules, and people were amused that he
> provided executable installers for pure Python libraries. But I saw that
> as a sensible decision, since it meant that Windows users (and even
> Windows Python application developers) used the same mechanism to
> install everything.

The Windows story is indeed sad, as none of the Windows packaging
formats provides support for dependencies (MSI has some support,
but as far as I understand it, it's pretty useless). But yes, for
Windows, you want .exe or .msi installers, not something proprietary.

Regards,
Martin