[Pythonmac-SIG] sys.path for MacPython 2.3 - next set of questions

[Chris Barker]

Jack Jansen wrote:
> 
> I think I'm going to go for ~/Library/Python/2.3/site-packages, i.e.
> scream loudly
> if you *really* don't agree.


> I'm going to punt on /Library/Python for now. It doesn't offer any new
> functionality
> over $prefix/lib/python2.3/site-packages, 

woah! I may be missing something, but if I understand this correctly,
apart from my last point (minor) it sounds like you are planning on
putting site-packages in the users directory by default? That is just
plain wierd. While supporting user-level installing of stuff is great,
most oftern used, and default, should be system wide. Or did you mean
that 

~/Library/Python/2.3/site-packages

Was the only one you'll do IN ADDITION to the standard system wide
location. If so, then ...never mind.

-Chris

> 1. Who adds ~/Library/Python/2.3/site-packages to sys.path, and when?

What is the harm to having it always there, even if it doesn't exist
and/or has nothing in it?

> 2. Who creates ~/Library/Python/2.3/site-packages, and when?

> where
> admin user A has installed Python, and normal user B starts using it
> and wants to
> install her own extension modules.

This may be out of our control, but shouldn't distutils do it in that
case? And if not disutils, then the user needs to vreate the directory
by hand.

> For that reason I'm slightly in favor of
> doing it in the IDE.

There are a lot of us that donm't use and probably won't ever use the
IDE. Of course, we may be the same folks that don't mind typing: "mkdir
..." also.

>Probably distutils and pimp should also create it when needed.

Yup.

Could either of those add it to the standard PythonPath when they create
the directory?

-Chris



-- 
Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
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