[Pythonmac-SIG] The versioning question...

[Chris Barker]

Bob Ippolito wrote:
> That doesn't fix the multiple versions problem.

This is a big issue that the core Pythonistas don't seem to be 
interested in addressing. It's odd, because I think it's a no-brainer 
that python modules need to be versioned, and there needs to be a way to 
have multiple versions co-existing and user (that is code) selectable. 
They are just like dynamic libraries in this regard. I think that's one 
reason Py2App and the like are so necessary now, it's the equivalent of 
statically linking an app.

Particularly if Bob's idea of including PyObjC with MacPython gets 
implemented, it would be great to have a versioning system in place for 
it, so people could count on it being there, and not breaking apps that 
use when a new version comes out.

Robin has added versioning to the latest wxPython, and I. for one am 
ecstatic. It works great for me. I am generally using 2.5.3, but have 
2.4.2 installed, and a number of my apps depend  on it (on Linux anyway, 
  it's pretty useless on OS-X)

It's great to be able to put:

import wxversion
wxversion.select("2.4")

At the top of my apps, and know that they'll use the version of wxPython 
I tested against.

Anyway, just a rant, but I do think something like this should be done 
for any major packages that come with MacPython, like PyObjC.

It would be even better if there were a standard, Python-wide approach, 
but my read of comp.lang.python tells me it ain't gonna happen.

Let's keep in mind how annoyed we all are that Apple supplied a python 
that makes it difficult to install a newer python without breaking 
things. Why should we not have the same standard for packages?

-Chris








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Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
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