Upgrade to version 1.5.2 - won't configure?

[Thomas A. Bryan]

Don Oliver wrote:

> The Python web site doesn't say that all these extra programs are required,
> nor does the readme in the download.

No.  It assumes that you have a UNIX machine where you can compile C 
programs.  That is, it assumes that you have a functioning C compiler, 
a linker,  appropriate libraries, etc.  Most people developing on a UNIX 
machine don't start using the C compiler by trying to build Python.
If you had decided to build any other program from sources first, then 
you would have encountered this problem then.  What I'm saying is that 
your problem wasn't Python-specific:  it's really more of a Linux/UNIX 
configuration problem.  Perhaps the README should at least mention 
that you must have a functioning C development environment to build 
Python from the sources.

> > Wow!  I never have any idea what's going on with Windows....
>
> I said that I knew what I was doing, I never claimed to know all about the
> DLL's, etc.
> By that, I meant that I had no problem installing and using any programs.
> Big difference!

Just like the rest of us. ;-)  There's nothing wrong with using Python 
under Windows.  I do it often.  Switching to Linux/UNIX, learning Python, 
and learning to compile C programs is a lot to do simultaneously.  

> >Don't we all... seriously, one thing I have learnt over my year or two
> >with Linux is to let rpm do it's stuff and not move stuff around
> >underneath it. It's possible to do it yourself using tarballs and mv
> >and cp, but it becomes harder to keep track of what's where.
> 
> I guess I'll stick with rpms for now.

Good idea. :)  Note that you can still install Python modules such as 
PMW and HTMLgen after you install the basic Python RPMs.  Any Python 
module/package that has no C extension simply requires you to put the 
.py files somewhere where Python can find them.  Many of the most 
commonly used C extensions for Python are available as RPMs, so you 
don't have to build them from the sources either.

but-I-build-all-python-packages-from-sources-on-the-Starship-anyway-ly yours
---Tom