Question

[Andrew Farrell]

I'm going to echo Chris Angelo's suggestion #2 to use a python
distribution. This page <https://www.continuum.io/downloads> has the links
to download Anaconda. It is free and if you need to download libraries
which require compiled external code like numpy you can just run `conda
install numpy`.

On Mon, Mar 7, 2016 at 1:47 PM, Chris Angelico <rosuav at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Mar 8, 2016 at 5:51 AM, Jon Ribbens
> <jon+usenet at unequivocal.co.uk> wrote:
> > I must say that Python on Windows was a very poor experience indeed,
> > "virtualenv" does not work and "venv" refuses to create the 'activate'
> > shell script so does not work either (and pygame doesn't work, but
> > that's presumably not Python's fault).
>
> To be quite frank, Python on Windows has had a *lot* of problems, and
> most of them have been the fault of Windows. Starting with Python 3.5,
> there've been some big packaging changes that ought to make Windows
> Python a bit easier to use; however, there've been some teething
> troubles, and there are still some ways in which setting up a
> properly-working Python is a pain.
>
> So you have a few choices:
>
> 1) Stick with the vanilla Python on the vanilla Windows. It's not
> horrendous, but there will be rough edges. Report those rough edges,
> and hopefully they can be fixed in time for 3.6 (or even 3.5.2).
>
> 2) Use a different Python distribution, eg Anaconda or ActiveState.
> Some of them cost money; when you pay money for open source software,
> what you're getting is a level of support, which will mean you can
> complain to them when something doesn't work, and insist that they fix
> it. This may or may not give you better results than option 1.
>
> 3) Use standard Python, and ditch Windows. This is what I do. :)
>
> 4) Keep using Windows, but do your Python work in a virtual machine.
> Either full-on virtualization software like VirtualBox or VMWare, or
> something that gives you a web browser interface to a VM hosted in the
> cloud (eg Cloud 9 or Nitrous).
>
> Personally, I don't see any reason to run "real Windows" on any of my
> systems. Windows programs get run under Wine or VirtualBox, never
> directly on the hardware. But if your needs are different, there are
> plenty of ways to improve your Windows+Python setup; just be patient,
> and accept that you might have a bit of extra work to do.
>
> ChrisA
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>