[Pythonmac-SIG] Why Do I Explicitly Need MacPython

[davelist at mac.com]

On Sep 25, 2006, at 5:08 PM, Russell E. Owen wrote:

<snip>

>
> I see what you mean about different installations. I think the  
> following
> might work better:
> - Always modify _tkinter.so to point to Tcl/Tk 8.4 in
>    /Library/Frameworks.
> This will fall back to the built in /System/Library/Frameworks if the
> user has not installed an 8.4 of their own.
>
> It avoids a few of the issues you bring up and is simpler and more
> robust than what I originally suggested. Advantages:
> - All installations would be the same.
> - If the user installs a new Tcl/Tk after installing Python, it  
> would be
> used (unless it's 8.5, which would not be safe to try with Python).
>
> It still does not address your concern than a user might accidentally
> have a  Tcl/Tk that they don't want to use. I'd personally be  
> happier if
> users could  easily upgrade their Tcl/Tk (since the installed one  
> is so
> bad), so I see this as more of an advantage than a disadvantage. Users
> aren't going to typically  install Tcl/Tk unless they want to use  
> it, I
> think. Still...I'm sure you've seen more requests for help than I have
> over the years.
>
> I'm not keen on including a Tcl/Tk for several reasons:
> - Which version would you use? Even 8.4.11 has some important known
> bugs, and 8.4.13 has different ones (at least one of which is very  
> nasty
> for my application, so I stick with 8.4.11 for now).
> - If a user wanted to upgrade their Tcl/Tk, what would they do? The
> answer is easy if we use the version of 8.4 found in /Library/ 
> Framework
> (if any).
> - It can be tricky to add needed additions (my app uses the
> "snack" sound library, for example). A standard Tcl/Tk makes this much
> easier (and in fact  ActiveState Tcl/Tk already includes all additions
> most folks would want).
> - There is no universal Tcl/Tk yet (though one is planned). I  
> personally
> don't want to try to build one.
>
> So my personal suggestion is that we modify _tkinter.so using
> Bob Ippolito's recipe unchanged (no fancy script that hunts for an
> installed Tcl/Tk). It will be completely compatible with the built in
> Tcl/Tk but gives any real users of Tcl/Tk (anyone who isn't just  
> writing
> "hello world") a trivial way to get a decent version.
>
> -- Russell


I'm very interested in this and would be happy to help with testing.  
I teach Python at the college level using John Zelle's Python book  
(it uses Tk for simple GUI programs). Most of the programs run fine,  
but some of the more complex ones crash intermittently within Tk. The  
same program seems to run fine on Windows using 2.4.3 although it  
does crash intermittently on CentOS 4.3 within Tk.

In the meantime, are you saying the simplest solution for my students  
with Macs is to use ActiveState (some have G4 laptops and some have  
Intel based laptops)?

I have a G5 running 10.3.9 at work (IT isn't planning to upgrade yet)  
and a G5 running 10.4.x at home so I'll be happy to test on both of  
those.

Thanks,
Dave