[Python-ideas] venv *is* provided in the standard Python install on Debian/Ubuntu

[Petr Viktorin]

On 11/13/2017 11:05 AM, Antoine Pitrou wrote:
> On Mon, 13 Nov 2017 12:32:06 +1000
> Nick Coghlan <ncoghlan at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 13 November 2017 at 04:38, Antoine Pitrou <solipsis at pitrou.net> wrote:
>>> On Sun, 12 Nov 2017 12:20:45 +0000
>>> Paul Moore <p.f.moore at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>   
>>>>> Well, not exactly. Do you do python -m venv, or py -x.x -m venv or
>>>>> pythonx -m venv ? Wait, it's not installed by default on debian.
>>>>
>>>> Seriously? Debian don't provide venv in the standard Python install?
>>>> That's just broken.
>>>
>>> Frankly, I don't know where the current discussion comes from, but on
>>> two recent Debian and Ubuntu setups, I get:
>>>
>>> $ dpkg -S /usr/lib/python3.5/venv/__init__.py
>>> libpython3.5-stdlib:amd64: /usr/lib/python3.5/venv/__init__.py
>>
>> The discussion comes from the fact that even though the code is
>> present it doesn't actually work:
> [...]
> 
> Wow.  I had forgotten Debian could be such a user-hostile
> distribution.  I'm not sure what the reason would be to use it as a
> basis for a training course in Python programming, then (other than the
> teacher having their own ideological preferences).

For us, it's the *student's* preference. I believe it's better to let 
students use the machine and environment they're used to, even if it 
means extra trouble for the instructors.
So, we get a healthy mix of Windows, Mac, Debian, Fedora, and sometimes 
some surprises.