[Pythonmac-SIG] a beginner's list

[Christopher Barker]

Kevin Ollivier wrote:
> My point is: When people upgrade 
> Python, anyway, anyhow, their extensions will break. MacPython 2.4 
> doesn't do anything more or less than Apple's Python in stopping that; 
> it simply lets you put off upgrading your Python should you want to do so.

Right. To be softer: I think it's a good idea to only base your stuff on 
things you either control or you're confident your OS vendor won't 
change in the next release. That's why I advocate installing your own 
Python.

> Python extensions always break when you upgrade the major Python 
> version. Users *should* be aware of this, regardless of what platform 
> they use or where they get their Python from.

Sure.

> nothing Apple can do to resolve the problem except stop updating Python 
> or stop bundling, both of which would be very bad.

Yes, they could. They could keep 2.3.5 around and add 2.4.* to it, 
rather than replacing it. That's what I do when I upgrade. Then all my 
utilities still work, while I slowly add all the extensions to the new 
version. I had 1.5.6, 2.0, 2.2 and 2.3 on my Linux box for a while!

I'm not sure Apple should do that, and if they did, I'm not sure how 
long they should keep it up -- you could get a lot of python versions 
lying around after a while!

By the way, Kevin, do you have any idea how hard it's going to be to 
build wxPython far and with the universal python Bob et. al are working on?

-Chris


-- 
Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
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