[Python-Dev] Safely importing zip files with C extensions

[Vinay Sajip]

Stefan Behnel <stefan_ml <at> behnel.de> writes:


> I've always hated this setuptools misfeature of copying C extensions from
> an installed archive into a user directory, one for each user. At least
> during normal installation, they should be properly unpacked into normal
> shared library files in the file system.

The user directory location is not a key part of the functionality, it could
just as well be a shared location across all users. And this is an option for
specific scenarios, not a general substitute for installing the wheel (which
unpacks everything into FHS-style locations). A lot of people use virtual envs,
which are per-user anyway. I'm not suggesting this is a good idea for system-wide
deployments of software.

> Whether it then makes sense to special case one-shot trial imports like the
> above without installation is a bit of a different question, but I don't
> see a compelling reason for adding complexity here. It's not really an
> important use case.

Well, my post was to elicit some comment about the usefulness of the feature,
so fair enough. It doesn't seem especially complex though, unless I've missed
something.

Regards,

Vinay Sajip