Removal of tkinter from python 3.0? [was: Fate of the repr modulein Py3.0]

[Terry Reedy]

"Paul Rubin" <"http://phr.cx"@NOSPAM.invalid> wrote in message 
news:7xy78dg79e.fsf at ruckus.brouhaha.com...
| "Daniel Fetchinson" <fetchinson at googlemail.com> writes:
| > Is it just me or others also think that it would be a major loss to
| > remove tkinter from the python core?
|
| That would be terrible.  Every time I've tried to use one of the other
| packages it has led to installation hell.  Tkinter isn't great, but
| it's extremely useful to have a gui module that's present
| automatically in every compete Python installation and that is
| reasonably cross platform.  I can write a Python/Tkinter app under
| Linux and send it to Windows users and they can run it after a single,
| very simple Python installation from the Windows .msi.  I have no
| Windows development tools whatsoever and very limited access to
| Windows boxes, so any Python code I deploy on Windows can't rely on
| any non-Python code outside of the stdlib.
|
| Also, because of tkinter's inherent limitations, I have the impression
| that upgrading it to the latest and greatest tcl/tk release wouldn't
| improve it much over the useful but low-rent module that it already is.
| Therefore, that supposed "benefit" of splitting it out to an external
| package is not much of a benefit.
|
| One of Python's traditionally best attractions has been the depth of
| its standard libraries, and backing away from that would be plain
| self-destructive.  Python needs more stuff in its stdlib, not less.
| If Tkinter doesn't satisfy, then add Gtk (or whatever) to the standard
| distro.  If that happens (i.e. some new toolkit is brought in and
| declared to be the standard) then it might be ok to drop Tkinter but
| it certainly shouldn't be dropped without a replacement.

I think this nicely summarizes the case against dropping tkinter (and 
indeed, the case against shrinking the stdlib), like some devs (who mostly 
une *nix) want to do.  Perhaps someone can forward it to the lib-sig and/or 
the Py3-devel lists.

tjr