Third Party Modules

[Mike Driscoll]

On Apr 28, 12:15 pm, John Nagle <na... at animats.com> wrote:
> Brock wrote:
> > Hi Everyone,
>
> > I know this is most likely a basic question and you will roll your
> > eyes, but I am just starting out with Python (hobbyist) and I see many
> > tutorials on the web referring to the use of external modules.
>
> > However, when I locate them, they often come as a zipped folder with a
> > number of files.  How do I install them?  In addition, is there an
> > easy way to manage external modules? Some I see require additional
> > modules not included.
>
>     There are several different mechanism for handling this, and they all suck.
> The whole Python module distribution scheme is so uncoordinated that there's
> no uniform way to do this.  It's not your fault.
>
>     There's "python ./setup.py".  There are "eggs", which are supposed to
> install very simply, but in practice usually fail to install properly,
> producing obscure error messages.  There are Windows installers.
> There's no consistency.
>
>     I'm currently struggling with guiding users through installation
> of a Python program I put on SourceForge. I have to explain to them how
> to install three different external modules which don't have compatible
> installation mechanisms.
>
>     I'm not going to put Python software out for public use again.  I don't
> have the time to deal with this crap.
>
>                                         John Nagle
>                                         Animats

I've found the eggs thing to work more often than not. But I've seen
it fail before too. I'm not sure where tuxagb got the idea that
there's usually a Windows installer. If I want something, it's usually
more like a 50-50 chance of there being an installer.

Anyway, hopefully the snakebite project will help with this a little.

Mike