Distributing Python apps

David LeBlanc whisper at oz.net
Sat Jan 4 17:48:45 EST 2003


Taking a quick glance at just Python, I don't think your goal of putting
Python + app + data on a single 1.44mb floppy is realistic.

Python installer on windows is 6+mb.

Installed Python is at least 1+mb just for dll's and libs (not including doc
and examples etc.), of which some parts may not be needed by your app.
Additional specialist dll's and scripts needed by your app not included in
that estimate.

In terms of a download, I'm betting that 2+mb for a runtime only including
application bytes (binaries and doc) is more likely.

I suggest a more practical and realistic goal is to plan on a CD
distribution. It's probably actually cheaper to distribute on CD then on
floppy these days anyway.

David LeBlanc
Seattle, WA USA

> -----Original Message-----
> From: python-list-admin at python.org
> [mailto:python-list-admin at python.org]On Behalf Of Norman Skrzypinski
> Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2003 13:48
> To: python-list at python.org
> Subject: Re: Distributing Python apps
>
>
>
> David Bolen wrote:
> > I'm assuming Windows since you mention the Visual
> > languages.
>
> Hi, David.
>
> I am developing applications for individuals, not businesses.  (Although,
> some of the financial applications will be useful for small
> businesses on a
> shoestring budget, too.)
>
> I'd like the software to be available to anyone who has a floppy disk and
> access to a computer.  My first target is the largest group,
> Windows users;
> but, I don't want to ignore the people who have Mac and Linux.  To me,
> that's one of the many attractions of Python - everyone can use it.
>
> A rough draft of my first two applications, written in Visual Basic,
> produced .exe files that are 350-460 KB.  The complete application would
> probably be about 750 KB.  A data file, for 12 months, for a typical user,
> would be about 500 KB.  So, the entire app and one year's data
> would easily
> fit on a floppy disk, and could be used at home, school, work, or the
> library.
>
> > While it may not be at the level of the VB "create a installer" sort
> > of thing, I use Gordon McMillan's installer package along with the
> > InnoSetup Windows installer (for typical Windows installation
> > packages) and I find it very easy and capable.  The installer is a
> > simple execution to collect all the appropriate files together, and
> > while you have to do some manual work to create the configuration file
> > for InnoSetup, it's simple enough and no worse than using something
> > like InstallShield with a VC application.
>
> This is what I want ...
>
> To buy: enter the credit card number, download the software.  To install:
> click on the filename, choose the directory for file storage, choose the
> directory for the shortcut.  To use: click on the shortcut.
>
> Downloading and installing Python on every user's machine is not
> acceptable,
> to me.
>
> > Others here will no doubt mention py2exe which is an alternative to
> > Gordon's package.  There are also alternatives to InnoSetup (such as
> > NSIS).
> >
> > If you need more cross-platform support, Gordon's installer does
> > support Linux (you'd skip the InnoSetup step).
> >
> > Of course, you could always use the included distutils support to
> > build a setup file for your package and distribute it that way.  Your
> > targets would need Python but not a developer environment (unless your
> > package includes custom extensions that need compiling, and even then
> > I think you can include the pre-built binaries with your
> > distribution).  This is actually a fairly common way to distribute
> > Python modules, although I can understand your desire for a more
> > standalone approach, particularly for Windows users, as that's what I
> > also do for some of my packages.
> >
> > Any of these seem fairly developer-friendly to at least this
> developer :-)
>
> From one developer to another: Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
>
> > -- David
>
> Norm
>
> PS:  I quite strongly disagree with the nutritional advice given by your
> company.
>
>
> --
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list






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