Python Plans from ActiveState

[Aahz Maruch]

In article <Y2HT4.3280$Kc3.19889 at news-server.bigpond.net.au>,
Mark Hammond <mhammond at skippinet.com.au> wrote:
><robin at illusionsexeculink.com> wrote in message
>news:51rthscplh93iuktpbn87lihguqo1rq5s8 at 4ax.com...
>>
>> PYTHONPATH should be an environment variable, not a registry string.
>
>I disagree completely.  This would be as bad as attempting to put Python
>on the global path.  It is hard to do across platforms.  It prevents
>multiple Python versions installed side-by-side (which is possible now -
>just not via the default installer).  I agree the registry sucks, but IMO
>a global environment sucks even more!

<confuzzled look>  Correct me if I'm wrong, but environment variables
are *not* global in my experience.  To be precise, env vars are
precisely as global under NT/Win98 as they are under Unix: they *can* be
set up as global, but setting an env var in any process (including a
shell) overrides the global for that process *and* all sub-processes
(including processes spawned from a shell).

Because scripts (both shell and other kinds) make it trivial to set env
vars and launch programs, and because env vars are available on all OSes
(AFAIK), it seems to me they're much better for cross-platform usage
than a registry entry.
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