[Python-Dev] [Distutils] how to easily consume just the parts of eggs that are good for you

[Phillip J. Eby]

At 10:49 PM 4/8/2008 -0400, Stanley A. Klein wrote:
>On Tue, April 8, 2008 9:37 pm, Ben Finney
><bignose+hates-spam at benfinney.id.au> wrote:
> > Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:37:07 +1000
> > From: Ben Finney <bignose+hates-spam at benfinney.id.au>
> > Subject: Re: [Distutils] how to easily consume just the parts of eggs
> >       that    are     good for you
> > To: Distutils-Sig at Python.Org
> >
> >
> > zooko <zooko at zooko.com> writes:
> >> eyes and said "So they are planning to reinvent apt!".
> >
> > That's pretty much my reaction, too.
>
>I have the same reaction.

I'm curious.  Have any of you actually read PEP 262 in any detail?  I 
have seen precious little discussion so far that doesn't appear to be 
based on significant misunderstandings of either the purpose of 
reviving the PEP, or the mechanics of its proposed implementation.


>I have tried in the past to use easy_install, but have run into problems
>because there is no communication between easy_install and the rpm
>database, resulting in failure of easy_install to recognize that
>dependencies have already been installed using rpms.

This problem doesn't exist with Python 2.5, unless you're using a 
platform that willfully strips out the installation information that 
Python 2.5 provides for these packages.


>A database focused only on Python packages is highly inappropriate for
>Linux systems, violates the Linux standards, and creates problems because
>eggs are not coordinated with the operating system package manager.

The revamp of PEP 262 is aimed at removing .egg files and directories 
from the process, by allowing system packagers to tell Python what 
files belong to them and should not be messed with.  And conversely, 
allowing systems and installation targets *without* package managers 
to safely manage their Python installations.


>   The
>way to achieve a database for Python would be to provide tools for
>conversion of eggs to rpms and debs,

Such tools already exist, although the conversion takes place from 
source distributions rather than egg distributions.


>to have eggs support conformance to
>the LSB and FHS,

Applying LSB and FHS to the innards of Python packages makes as much 
sense as applying them to the contents of Java .jar files -- i.e., 
none.  If it's unchanging data that's part of a program or library, 
then it's a program or library, just like static data declared in a C 
program or library.  Whether the file extension is .py, .so, or even 
.png is irrelevant.