[Python-Dev] PEP: Use site-packages on all platforms

[Moore, Paul]

From: Guido van Rossum [mailto:guido@digicool.com]
> 
> I think this is a good idea.  Submit the PEP to Barry!

Done.

> I doubt that we can introduce this into Python 2.1 this late in the
> release cycle.  Would that be a problem?

I thought as much. I can't see it being a major issue. My only concern (as
noted in the PEP) is that with distutils becoming more commonly used, there
will be more and more packages installed using distutils, and so ending up
in the directory which distutils uses by default. The longer it is before
the change is made, the more of a mixed setup people will have. But then
again, (a) the change is backward-compatible, and (b) extension modules will
need recompiling (and reinstalling) anyway. So no, 2.2 seems OK.

Hmm, that does raise one issue - if people rebuild and reinstall after the
change, the reinstall won't overwrite the old version. As a consequence,
there will be an old version on sys.path, with the potential for a crash...
Of course, people should uninstall before reinstalling, so it shouldn't be a
problem. Making distutils search for old versions would be possible, but it
seems like major overkill...

I'll assume this is for 2.2, and that the reinstall-not-overwriting problem
isn't an issue. I'll note the details in the PEP.

Paul.