[Edu-sig] re: The PyGame approach to installing

[Arthur]

Markus writes -

>you complained about some inabilitier of the Win32 Distutils-Installer.

Complained?  You know that would unlike me;).

I *commented*.

>Maybe the approach taken by PyGame is the solution: The PyGame->library
uses distutils (different downloads for different Python versions), > and
the PyGame-Docs use some full blown installer, which generates
> Start-menu shortcuts, and allows for installing in an arbitrary location
>(defaulting to 'program files').

Yes.  Essentially a version of the tack that Numeric takes as to its docs,
which I pointed to early on as a very reasonable alternative.

But I think it makes a bit more sense for major distributions, like Numeric
and PyGame, than it does for more minor distributions like - dare I say it -
PyGeo.  Or even VPython.

I am going to experiment a bit more  - at some point - with what is the
minimal win32all modules that are required to give disutils more
functionality on Windows.  I think just win32api.pyd, which is only 67k,
might get one a good part of the way there.  But I haven't tested my theory
yet.

>P.S.: Your PyOpenGL-Minimal installer seems to be too minimal ;)  I
>tried to start the wxPython demo which uses wxGLCanvas, but it
>complained about not finding glut32.dll

I believe I am fully innocent there.  I don't think that glut32.dll comes
with the full blown PyOpenGL either.  As it is third party.

What the full blown PyOpenGL probably does come with is better documentation
as to need to download and install glut32.dll to have the GLUT based demos
work.  In fact having glut32.dll in the PyOpenGL disdtro would be a Good
Thing.  And I considered it.  But then decided I don't understand licensing
issues well enough to feel comfortable doing it. Thinking that if it is
*not* in the full-blown PyOpenGL distro, there was probably a good reason
for that. Then again, maybe it is and I missed it.  I'll check again.