[Python-3000] Proposal: No more standard library additions

Talin talin at acm.org
Fri Oct 13 07:39:47 CEST 2006


Now that I've gotten your attention :)

Seriously, though, I am not proposing that there *never* be additions to 
the standard library -- instead, I simply want 'easy_install' to work 
100% of the time, so that there's much less reason to add something to 
the standard library.

In fact, I would go a step further and say that I'd like to see the 
standard library cut in half. For backwards compatibility with existing 
Python programs, you would simply type 'easy_install legacy', and all of 
the old "batteries included" modules would be installed for you. For 
writing *new* programs however, you could use a much lighter, slimmer 
distribution.

How's that for Py3000 cruft removal? :)

Unfortunately, the main obstacle at the moment is that about 50% of the 
packages out there aren't compatible with setuptools. About 50% of the 
time when I say 'easy_install <bleargh>' it downloads the package and 
then says 'setup.py' not found.

Moreover, I want 'easy_uninstall' to work just as easily, and I want it 
to clean up the installed package without a trace. I want to be able to 
download X, check it out, say "blech, I don't like X", uninstall, and 
have no guilt or loose files cluttering up my site-packages.

-- Talin



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