setup.py when you can't write to site-packages?

[Diez B. Roggisch]

andybak wrote:

> There are several gaps in my Python knowledge, one of which is the what
> exactly setuptools does and how it works.
> 
> I'm on a shared host so can't write to site-packages therefore most
> setup.py's fail.
> 
> My strategy for pure python packages is to run setup.py locally and
> copy anything that gets put in site-packages across to the shared host
> somewhere in my Python path. I'm sure there is a better solution!
> 
> What's the best approach for situations when you can't tamper with the
> Python install?

If you've got setuptools installed, you can use the development mode + a
staging dir that you put in your PYTHONPATH. Then the copying is done for
you.

Diez