Distributing applications

[Serge Orlov]

Jaime Wyant wrote:
> I chose not to use py2exe because it made updating my app a bit
> messier.  For instance, suppose I don't use the smtplib module in
> version 1 of my software.  Py2exe realizes that and doesn't 'package'
> smtplib with my executable.  Now, if I release version 1.1 which does
> use smtplib, then I'd have to figure out how to get the updates out
> without having the user redownload the entire application.  Granted,
> I didn't put much thought into an update mechanism, but it seemed to
> be messy at the time.

I don't follow you. How is that different compared to adding a module
to your application? Let's say version 1.1 of your software has
module1.py updated, module2.py added and it needs smtplib. You just
bundle three compiled files and unpack them let's say to
\program files\my software\module1.pyc
\program files\my software\module2.pyc
\program files\my software\python\smtplib.pyc

I don't see any mess.

>
>If I have my own distribution, I can simply give the users an "update"
> program that will query  my webserver which will download the latest
> version for them automagically.  Because my distribution has all of
> the modules already available, I don't have to worry about sending
> them any missing modules.  Simply download the latest version of my
> app and it works with my custom rolled distribution.
>
> But, this only works for Windows...

Why? As I understand "update" program was written by you, so what
prevents it from working on other platforms besides testing?

  Serge.