Visual Studio not installed

[Tim Peters]

[Darren Dale]
> I have not been able to run "python setup.py install" on several
> packages, receiving the following error:
> 
> Python was built with version 6 of Visual Studio, and extensions need to
> be built with the same version of the compiler, but it isnt installed.
> 
> Could someone explain what this means?

It means you're on a Windows system, you haven't installed Microsoft's
C compiler ("version 6 of Visual Studio"), and you're trying to
install a package that requires compiling C code.  It doesn't work
because it needs a C compiler.  Sometimes you can get a different
download of the package for Windows containing precompiled C code,
though (it depends on the specific package).

> I am working on windows XP at the moment, but when I move to Linux, does
> this mean I will not be able to install from source?

Linux systems all come with C compilers.  Windows systems don't.  Of
course on a Linux system, the Python you use will not have been
compiled with Visual Studio, so disutils won't claim that it was (it's
telling you the truth on WIndows, though).  I hope that answers your
question, because I'm not sure what it was <wink>.