[Python-ideas] Better error messages for missing optional stdlib packages

[Marcus Harnisch]

On 10/04/2018 06:51 PM, Antoine Pitrou wrote:
> I don't know.  Realistically, any decent distributor of Python
> should include those optional modules, and I don't remember
> encountering a Python that doesn't has them.
What is the point, then, of making these packages optional in the first 
place? Shouldn't by that logic a missing dependency rather trigger a 
build failure /unless/ someone enables a certain switch (e.g. 
‘--without-xz’), e.g. for special-purpose distribution.

> Adding a note saying otherwise in the docs may pointlessly scare users away.
Possibly. But not saying anything isn't the best alternative under these 
circumstances.

Thanks,
Marcus
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