[Python-Dev] Sumo

[Antoine Pitrou]

Le mercredi 26 mai 2010 à 13:19 +0100, Paul Moore a écrit :
> 
> I'm not sure how a "Sumo" approach would work in practical terms, and
> this thread isn't really the place to discuss, but there's a couple of
> points I think are worth making:
> 
> * For a "Sumo" distribution to make sense, some relatively substantial
> chunk of the standard library would need to be moved *out* to reside
> in the sumo distribution. Otherwise it's not really a "sumo", just a
> couple of modules that "nearly made it into the stdlib", at least for
> the near-to-medium term.

This is not what I'm suggesting at all. The stdlib wouldn't shrink
(well, we could dump outdated modules but that's a separate decision).

A hypothetical "Sumo" distribution would be made of those more or less
useful modules that many people (application or framework developers;
for example, take a look at the dozens of direct and indirect
dependencies TurboGears pulls in) need and install.

The whole point is that it would *not* be supported by python-dev itself
but by a separate group of people (such as you :-)).
And it would have its own rules (surely more relaxed) over inclusion or
deprecation delays, the ability to make compatibility-breaking changes,
release timings, multiple obvious ways to do the same thing, etc.

And it means it could really bundle a lot of third-party stuff: small
helpers (things like the decorator module), event loops, template
engines, network address abstractions, argument parsers, ORMs, UI
toolkits, etc.

(a side-effect would be that it could, if it works well, behave as a
good intermediate stress test - a purgatory, if you want - for modules
before they integrate the stdlib)

If you want an existing analogy, you could look at EasyPHP. Or think of
Python as the Gnome or KDE project (consistent and aiming at providing
the most important everyday tools, but quite focused), and "Sumo" as an
entire distribution of disparate Linux GUI apps.

Regards

Antoine.