Stand-alone Python Apps?

[Warren Postma]

"Nathan Gundlach" <dagchess at frognet.net> wrote in message
news:X0TT4.1732$W45.3792 at newsfeed.slurp.net...
> Is there any way to create stand-alone apps in Python that I can use on
> Windows, Linux/UNIX, and Mac?

<DREAM_MODE>
I would like a tool which would create source archives, binaries for
Win-x86, Linux-x86, and Mac PPC, handling all possible Windows DLLs, Unix
Shared Libraries, and Mac shared libraries, various GUI toolkits, etcetera,
etcetera. Once I have a tool that complicated I should only have one more
step to make a really useful python utility....  one that could write most
of my application for me while I'm at it!
</DREAM_MODE>

Seriously, I think there is some room for improvement in making Python
programs easier to "pack and go". There are several tools out there that you
should examine, search for Install and Freeze on the Python Search Page for
starters.

I think you'll need to narrow down your search by choosing an appropriate
GUI toolkit and other packages you'll need to use. Once you've built one
installer, the rest will be a cinch.  Python can be used for so many
purposes, some of which are portable, and some of which are not, that I can
hardly see a single universal Installer Tool.

Making such a tool would be complicated  by the many binary and python
extensions available for Python. If you use any DLL extensions (.pyd files
on Windows) then your program is not going to fit in a single file. If
standalone means "make a nice install program" then I'm sure many people are
working on improving their installer scripts, but I am not aware of any one
tool that is aware of all the things like Tcl/TK, wxPython, and whatever
other extension DLLs or Scripts you might use in your application.

The closest you're going to get is manually building three separate binary
installation programs, one for each platform, plus providing separate copies
of the source/script files. Then users might pick and choose between them,
and everybody might be reasonably happy. Except you, because it's a lot of
work making all those binary installation programs.

The other thing is that Python programs provided as source are inherently
more useful because you can change them. I suspect that a Python program
distributed without its source is going to be a lot less popular.

Has anyone formed a project or SIG to discuss simplifying installation and
deployment of Python applications, including the various GUI toolkits
around? My own bias is towards wxPython.  I am hoping Boa Constructor will
include a deployment wizard to help make shipping applications to people who
don't have Python and WxWindows + WxPython a little bit easier.

Warren