Third Party Modules

[David Robinow]

On Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 1:15 PM, John Nagle <nagle at animats.com> wrote:
> Brock wrote:
>>
>> Hi Everyone,
>>
>> I know this is most likely a basic question and you will roll your
>> eyes, but I am just starting out with Python (hobbyist) and I see many
>> tutorials on the web referring to the use of external modules.
>>
>> However, when I locate them, they often come as a zipped folder with a
>> number of files.  How do I install them?  In addition, is there an
>> easy way to manage external modules? Some I see require additional
>> modules not included.
>
>   There are several different mechanism for handling this, and they all
> suck.
> The whole Python module distribution scheme is so uncoordinated that there's
> no uniform way to do this.  It's not your fault.
>
>   There's "python ./setup.py".  There are "eggs", which are supposed to
> install very simply, but in practice usually fail to install properly,
> producing obscure error messages.  There are Windows installers.
> There's no consistency.
>
>   I'm currently struggling with guiding users through installation
> of a Python program I put on SourceForge. I have to explain to them how
> to install three different external modules which don't have compatible
> installation mechanisms.
>
>   I'm not going to put Python software out for public use again.  I don't
> have the time to deal with this crap.
>
>                                        John Nagle
>                                        Animats
> --
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
>

Well, John, I do have the time to deal with this crap, since I'm
retired, or unemployed, or somewhere in between. I have no idea if you
have any useful software to share. But feel free to give your users my
email address (drobinow at gmail.com) and I'll do my best to help.