[Python-Dev] PEP 376 and PEP 302 - allowing import hooks to provide distribution metadata

[Tarek Ziadé]

On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 5:14 PM, Paul Moore<p.f.moore at gmail.com> wrote:
> [...]
> And yet, given that PEP 376 is explicitly being designed with a goal
> being to act as the common standard that *all* package management
> formats can use, is it not the whole point that once it's defined and
> we have achieved consensus, existing package managers will switch to
> using it rather than retaining a range of custom formats?

That's the goal from the very beginning.

>
> I honestly fail to see why we are catering to this "setuptools cannot
> change" view. Usually, it's the standard library that cannot change,
> because of the longer release cycle of the core. If a standard is
> agreed, and setuptools won't conform to it, maybe it's time for
> someone to fork setuptools (unilaterally, if Phillip can't agree to an
> amicable transfer). Otherwise setuptools will remain a roadblock for
> any development of distutils.
>
> Frustrated-ly y'rs

+1

why can't we just go ahead and continue the work as we started with PEP 376,
introducing your work on PEP 302-like behavior.

Then if we get a consensus on this PEP and introduce it in 2.7/3.2,
setuptools will have to follow this consensus.

FWIW I am also frustrated because the setuptools development has been stopped
9 months ago, and *doesn't work anymore with the current distutils trunk*.
There are a lot of patches waiting in the setuptools tracker people wrote.
I hate to say this but this project needs an active maintainer or it's
going to die.

So I've said in distutils-sig that I would start my own branch of setuptools
before 2.7/3.2 is out for the people in the community that relies
on this package. Not to maintain the project because I have a lot to do already
on distutils side. But at least to make sure everyone can work with
the upcoming releases
of Python 2.x and 3.X without having their setup.py broken (and switch
eventually to a plain distutils
solution maybe)

Tarek