I (don' ) will kill my Python

[Tim Peters]

[Bruno Schaefer]
> ...
> All aspects in short:
> 1. There are many Python users with similar problems
> 2. The Python developers have to do more in this direction

Speaking as one of those godlike <ahem> Python developers, you'd be amazed
at how many people are eager to tell me I have to do more in all possible
directions for *them* <0.5 wink>.  This is just one more on an unbounded
pile.

> To improve the popularity of Python and to use it as first programming
> language this topic to create standalones is very important.

I don't think so.  See below.

> Young people, starting with programming, take their program on a disk
> and give it to their friends and will say "This is my program! I have
> created that by myself !!!"
>
> And the reality is that most of beginners use M$soft products, that
> means Win$.
>
> Is it the best solution for this problems to say : Go to VB or never
> come back, if Python users are angry about their problems ???

Python was never designed for standalone operation.  That's life.  What they
*should* say is:  "This is my program!  I have created it by myself!  Look!
And it's only 507 bytes!  Now you go to http://www.python.org/2.0/ and click
on 'Windows installer'.  Then we can share tiny Python programs via email
forever after."

I'm philosophically opposed to teaching kids that sharing fun programs
requires swapping multi-megabyte platform-specific binary executables over
high-speed internet connections.  It's much better if their friends have
Python installed too.  Then they can also jump into the program, change it,
improve it, do a bit of *programming* themselves.  The nearly unbounded
artificial pain of producing platform-dependent binaries is someting Python
was deliberately designed to get away from.

Businesspeople have other concerns -- but they can afford to hire Gordon
<wink>.

the-freeze-utilities-are-exactly-as-good-as-volunteers-made-them-ly
    y'rs  - tim