[Python-Dev] Installing python in /usr/bin

[Ka-Ping Yee]

The cgi.py discussion brought my attention to this comment from Guido:

> No, no, no!  The /usr/bin/env form *fails* on most platforms (except
> Linux) because Python is not installed in any of the default "bin"
> directories -- /usr/local/bin is the standard install place and that's
> not in the default path.

So the natural question to ask is -- why not install Python in /usr/bin
like everyone else?

Perhaps a while ago Python wasn't popular enough to belong in /usr/bin
and decided to modestly stay out of the way in /usr/local/bin instead?

But by now, i think it's quite qualified to take its seat in /usr/bin
along with all the other standard Unix binaries like /usr/bin/vi,
/usr/bin/ftp, /usr/bin/perl, etc.  Python *should* be in the default
binary directory.

Your thoughts?


-- ?!ng