Web update library in python?

[Jorgen Bodde]

Hi all,

I want to provide my users the ability to download a repository from
the web, and after that check for updates. I thought of a mechanism
that could do that, but since there is patch and diff readily
available I wondered if there is a python solution that allows me to
download a file, and let the patch be applied locally. In the patch
there are binaries and sources I am not sure if patch can handle them
both though.

So here are the situations;

Downloading
1. User enters URL and local path where to store
2. Updated downloads the file
3. Either creates a new repository or patches an existing one

Check for updates
1. A web check is done if there is a newer version
2. File is downloaded, patch is applied

Plain zip file extraction is possible, but I will miss out on files
that might be deleted in future versions, but not yet on the client
side. Also local changes might need to be preserved although it is not
a show stopper if it doesn't.

I want to have a solution that is very easy for the user, so point and
click kind of work. Is there a tool / library around that can provide
me a base for this problem?

Thanks in advance!
- Jorgen