[Python-Dev] Status of packaging in 3.3

[Barry Warsaw]

On Jun 21, 2012, at 07:48 AM, Chris McDonough wrote:

>I don't know about Red Hat but both Ubuntu and Apple put all kinds of stuff
>on the default sys.path of the system Python of the box that's related to
>their software's concerns only.  I don't understand why people accept this
>but get crazy about the fact that installing a setuptools distribution using
>easy_install changes the default sys.path.

Frankly, I've long thought that distros like Debian/Ubuntu which rely so much
on Python for essential system functions should basically have two Python
stacks.  One would be used for just those system functions and the other would
be for application deployment.  OTOH, I often hear from application developers
on Ubuntu that they basically have to build up their own stack *anyway* if
they want to ensure they've got the right suite of dependencies.  This is
where tools like virtualenv and buildout on the lower end and chef/puppet/juju
on the higher end come into play.

-Barry