[Python-Dev] PEP 408 -- Standard library __preview__ package

[Antoine Pitrou]

On Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:09:13 -0500
Scott Dial <scott+python-dev at scottdial.com> wrote:
> On 1/27/2012 8:48 PM, Barry Warsaw wrote:
> > The thinking goes like this: if you would normally use an __preview__ module
> > because you can't get approval to download some random package from PyPI, well
> > then your distro probably could or should provide it, so get it from them.
> 
> That is my thought about the entire __preview__ concept. Anything that
> would/should go into __preview__ would be better off being packaged for
> a couple of key distros (e.g., Ubuntu/Fedora/Gentoo) where they would
> get better visibility than just being on PyPI and would be more flexible
> in terms of release schedule to allow API changes.

This is a red herring. First, not everyone uses a distro. There are
almost a million monthly downloads of the Windows installers. Second,
what a distro puts in their packages has nothing to do with considering
a module for inclusion in the Python stdlib.

Besides, I don't understand how being packaged by a distro makes a
difference. My distro has thousands of packages, many of them quite
obscure.

OTOH, being shipped in the stdlib *and* visibly documented on
python.org (in the stdlib docs, in the what's new, etc.) will make a
difference.

Regards

Antoine.