[Python-Dev] PEP 382: Namespace Packages

[P.J. Eby]

At 02:30 PM 4/7/2009 +0200, M.-A. Lemburg wrote:
> >> Wouldn't it be better to stick with a simpler approach and look for
> >> "__pkg__.py" files to detect namespace packages using that O(1) check ?
> >
> > Again - this wouldn't be O(1). More importantly, it breaks system
> > packages, which now again have to deal with the conflicting file names
> > if they want to install all portions into a single location.
>
>True, but since that means changing the package infrastructure, I think
>it's fair to ask distributors who want to use that approach to also take
>care of looking into the __pkg__.py files and merging them if
>necessary.
>
>Most of the time the __pkg__.py files will be empty, so that's not
>really much to ask for.

This means your proposal actually doesn't add any benefit over the 
status quo, where you can have an __init__.py that does nothing but 
declare the package a namespace.  We already have that now, and it 
doesn't need a new filename.  Why would we expect OS vendors to start 
supporting it, just because we name it __pkg__.py instead of __init__.py?