[Python-Dev] Integrate BeautifulSoup into stdlib?

[Steve Holden]

Martin v. Löwis wrote:
>> * The creation of an *installer* is something quite different.  An
>> installer for a py2exe based tool also doesn't need dependency
>> management.
> 
> Right. I wasn't really talking about py2exe (anymore), but about
> installers for libraries.
> 
>> An installer for a pure-python package that made no attempt
>> to bundle dependencies might be nice, but I don't quite see how that
>> falls outside the scope of distutils/setuptools/etc.  In other words, I
>> don't see why the installer can't bootstrap the 'normal' dependency
>> management which would be used if the package was installed any other
>> way or on other platforms.
> 
> Perhaps that could be a solution. However, in package management
> systems that solve this properly, you also have proper uninstallation,
> which includes:
> - uninstallation is rejected if packages still depend on the
>   to-be-removed package (or else offers to remove the relying packages
>   as well)
> - uninstallation reference-counts, causing an automatically-installed
>   package to be uninstalled if it is no longer needed, or else offers
>   to compute-then-uninstall all packages which are no longer needed.
> The .exe/.msi installers do support uninstallation, but, alas, no
> dependency management.
> 
>> * distutils already has the ability to create Windows installer
>> executables for pure-python apps/libs.  I agree it would be nice if it
>> was an MSI but that is an implementation detail rather than
>> implementation requirement.
> 
> Right - plus, distutils also supports creating MSIs.
> 
>>  How were Mike's packages fundamentally
>> different than that?
> 
> Dunno.

As far as memory serves, Mike built the installers precisely by using
distutils to build Windows installers. He then had to suffer criticism
from people who suggested this was inappropriately complex for pure
Python modules.

In so far as "end users" won't wish to install individual Python modules
this argument may have had some merit, but I personally thought the
criticism unjustified since Mike's technique gave a uniform install
procedure for everything.

I don't think anyone was suggesting that py2exe would be helpful for
writing installers--simply to reduce complexity from the user's point of
view and bundle dependencies in isolation from other applications. It
seems to do that quite well.

regards
 Steve
-- 
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