where do my python files go in linux?

[Carl Banks]

On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:02:20 +0100, Jorgen Bodde wrote:
> I am trying to make a debian package. I am following the tutorial by
> Horst Jens
> (http://showmedo.com/videos/video?
name=linuxJensMakingDeb&fromSeriesID=37)
> and it is very informative. However one thing my app has and his
> doesn't, is multiple python files which need to be executed. For example
> 
> {dir}/app
> app.py
> 
> app.py calls a lot of modules in {dir}/app. Horst says the python file
> goes in /usr/bin/app.py which is ok with me, but I have multiple python
> files, and I decided to use an app.sh script to call my python files. In
> the /usr/bin I do not see subdirs so I assume that is not really
> desirable.
> 
> Question 1. Where do I put the bulk of python scripts in a normal linux
> environment?
> Question 2. Should I use *.pyc rather then *.py files to speed up
> executing as the user cannot write to /usr/bin or any other dir in the
> system and everytime my app runs it will recompile it
> 
> Thanks for any advice or maybe a good tutorial how to set up files in a
> linux environment

On a Debian system:


I would put app.py in /usr/local/bin.  I would create the directory
/usr/local/lib/app, and put all other *.py and *.pyc files there.  At the 
top of app.py, I'd add the following line so that I could import files 
directly from /usr/local/lib/app:

sys.path.insert(0,'/usr/local/lib/app')


Alternatively, using your app.sh approach, I'd put app.sh in
/usr/local/bin/, and all *.py and *.pyc files in /usr/local/lib/app.  I'd 
invoke Python something like this:

PYTHONPATH=/usr/local/lib/app:$PYTHONPATH  python -m app

(The -m switch searches the Python path for a module to run.) 


If it's more of a library than an application (maybe there is a command 
line script, but users could want to import the modules directly), then 
I'd stick all the modules in /usr/local/lib/python2.x/site-packages, and 
the command line scripts in /usr/local/bin.


Yes, install the *.pyc files.  I recommend putting *.py files there as 
well, so users can refer to it if there are any problems, but you don't 
have to.  The Python module compileall is your friend here.


Carl Banks