[Python-Dev] Re: [Distutils] Questions about distutils strategy
Gordon McMillan
gmcm@hypernet.com
Wed, 8 Dec 1999 11:17:03 -0500
Guido,
> Gordon, I'm sorry, but from this description I still have no idea
> what your stuff is (and I forgot the URL so I can't look it up).
http://starship.python.org/crew/gmcm/installer.html
The Linux stuff has a couple alpha testers and will probably
get announced in a week or two.
> For example, if it's not (just) for installing, what *is* it for?
At the bottom level, it's a bunch of tools using freeze's
modulefinder, imputil.py and 2 kinds of archives. There's at
least 2 layers above that, with "Installer" being the top.
There's a clean separation between the layers, so you can
break in wherever you like.
> What is the ``"manifest" problem'' and how did you solve it?
The problem is specifying a set of resources, hopefully without
having to list them explicitly. I solve this with a config file that
lets you specify packages, directories, directory trees.. with
filters that can work from paths, names, extensions, regular
expressions...
> Also, note that editing site.py is a no-no! You can create/edit
> sitecustomize.py, but you should leave site.py alone!
That would work fine. One of the standalone configurations will
write a site.py, but that's for a completely self-contained
installation (ie, one which will have no conflicts with another
Python installation).
I'd also note that, for Windows at least, the path-expanding
mechanism created by site.py has not caught on. I've got lots
installed, and no site-python, site-packages or sitecustomize.
- Gordon