Python 2.4 killing commercial Windows Python development ?

[Thomas Heller]

Michael Kearns <michael.kearns at REMOVEsaaconsultants.com> writes:

> I've been using python to write a simple 'launcher' for one of our
> Java applications for quite a while now. I recently updated it to use
> python 2.4, and all seemed well.
>
> Today, one of my colleagues noted that on her machine the launcher
> would complain it was missing a DLL - msvcr71.dll
>
> However, there's a very grey area concerning the redistribution of said DLL.
>
> If you've been keeping up with the dev list, and some other web
> discussions, you'll see that this has cropped up several times, but
> with no conclusion in a legal fashion other than 'investigate it on
> your own legal terms'.
>
> I'm now going to have step back to using 2.3 until this issue is
> solved, but judging by the way the dev list discussion just faded, I
> get the impression that it may be a long wait.
>
> I can't see how any company (or individual) can distribute an
> application written in python, and then 'frozen' (I used py2exe) in
> any way if they rely on the python24.dll that ships as standard. This
> is surely a step backwards in usability.

For commercial development, it should not be a problem to buy a license
for MSVC 7.1, which gives you the right to distribute msvcrt71.dll.

And maybe that's the reason that few people care about this issue?

Thomas