[Python-Dev] [Distutils] How we can get rid of eggs for 2.6 and beyond

[Paul Moore]

On 21/03/2008, M.-A. Lemburg <mal at egenix.com> wrote:
> You're heading off in the wrong direction: we should not be trying
>  to rewrite RPM or InnoSetup in Python.
>
>  Anything more complicated should be left to tools which are
>  specifically written to manage complex software setups.
>
>  I honestly believe that most people would be happy if we just
>  provide these two things (and no more):
>
>   * install a package from a local archive, a URL or PyPI
>
>   * uninstall a package in way that doesn't break other
>     installed packages
>
>  and whatever the mechanism, avoid making any undercover
>  changes to the Python installation such as adding
>  .pth files, overriding site.py, etc. - these are
>  not needed if the tool keeps to the simple task of
>  installing and uninstalling Python packages.

My immediate impression is that I completely agree with this. I'd like
to add one capability - to be able to list all installed packages.

Anything beyond this, I'd need to be persuaded about. That's not to
say that it's not valuable, just that it should be separate from the
installer. That's where setuptools falls down, in my view - it tries
to do too much all in one package.

>  We *don't* need the tool to:
[...]
>   * make coffee, clean the house, send the kids to school :-)

Well, these would be useful :-)

Paul.