idle glitch while building python 3.4 from sources

[Mark H Harris]

hi folks,  I got bit again trying to build python3.4 from sources (mea 
culpa, of course). The symptom is everything (except ensure pip) builds, 
installs, and runs fine with the small baby problem that IDLE will not 
run (-tkinter isn't even there) even though tcl/tk 8.5 is loaded and 
running.

This happens to me from time to time when I'm building on a new machine 
(this one is a T-61 ThinkPad running Mint Maya). The solution is simple, 
if I could remember it.

The dev packages for tcl/tk have to be installed or the python build 
will not self-configure for tkinter.  Make sure these are installed 
before ./configure; make; sudo make install :

    tcl8.5-dev
    tk8.5-dev

That is assuming that the dev packages (as well as tcl/tk) are installed 
to the standard places on my distro (they were).  We can point the build 
at another location in setup.py, or with ./configure options, or with 
make options (complicated).

Why am I posting?  Glad you asked. I am wondering if the build scripts 
could be updated slightly by prompting the user for IDLE preferences; 
and|or by being more robust about determining where tcl/tk lives, and|or 
by explicitly telling the user in the logs (or preferably right there 
on-screen) that the dev header packages for tcl/tk are not installed, 
and|or by refusing to build until the tcl/tk dev packages are installed, 
and|or refusing to build unless the user explicitly opts to bypass 
tkinter and build python anyway.

I know its my own fault (because I should just know this) but I got to 
wondering about others who 'might not know' about the tcl/tk dev 
packages and would be scratching their heads about why _tkinter is 
missing and IDLE won't run, although tcl/tk is installed correctly and 
running?

Just a suggestion...


marcus