[Pythonmac-SIG] My stab at a new page

[Kevin Walzer]

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Christopher Barker wrote:
> Louis Pecora wrote:
>> This seems to be where this argument goes:  the user/newbies vs. the 
>> developers.
> 
> I don't think so. This entire conversation is about supporting the 
> newbies. The disagreements are about how best to do that.
> 
>>  You shouldn't be forcing everyone to adopt a python system
>> that then suits your marketing model. 
> 
> I know why I'm pushing for the "Install the 2.4 version" approach, and 
> it's precisely to support newbies, not to fit a marketing model.
> 
> If we make it clear that there is one "Standard" way to do python on the 
> Mac, then it's easier for everyone:
> 
> - Newbies don't have to make a decision they don't understand the 
> implications of.
> 
> - We don't have to field questions about more than one version.
> 
> - When they need to add an extension package, there is only one set of 
> pre-built packages to look at.
> 
> - Extension package builders and maintainers only need to target one 
> version, and as a result, more packages will work on the Mac. (you 
> should see what's in the matplotlib setup.py: a fragile mess inside the 
> "darwin" section, looking around for whether you're running fink, or 
> darwinports, etc. so that libs can be found. What a pain!)
> 
> Those are some of the reasons that I think we need to establish a 
> single, standard, "Recommended by the MacPython community" version.

+1 for what Chris is advocating here.

A good model for this is Tk Aqua: see http://tcltkaqua.sourceforge.net.
For the past few  years this has been the standard way to get the
"latest and greatest" Tcl/Tk for the Mac. It's been superseded a bit by
ActiveState's distribution, but because ActiveState has licensing
restrictions, that's not for everyone.

ActivePython is also an example to consider that's a little more
relevant. Not to recommend ActivePython itself, as its licensing is more
restrictive than the build that will result from this discussion, but it
is a self-contained, easily-installed, well-documented, and up-to-date
bundle of Python and packages.

- --
Kevin Walzer
iReveal: File Search Tool
http://www.wordtech-software.com
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