understanding why there is no setup.py uninstall

[Chris Angelico]

On Sun, Jul 5, 2015 at 7:04 PM,  <c.buhtz at posteo.jp> wrote:
> This question is not technical.
> I know that there is no 'uninstall' Option in a setup.py.
> I know this discussions and workarounds for that problem, too.
> <http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1550226/python-setup-py-uninstall>
>
> I want to understand the design concept behind it.
>
> Why isn't there no uninstall routine implemented?
>
> For me as a user and admin it feels quite dirty when installing
> something with the setup.py but then not being able to remove it clean
> like I would do it with packages of my system-package-manager (e.g. with
> apt-get on a debianized system).

If you want a package manager, don't use setup.py itself - use pip,
which does have an uninstallation feature. Alternatively, use a
virtual environment, which means installations happen there rather
than into the system directory - you can clean it up just by wiping
out one tree.

ChrisA