How to know what to install (Ubuntu/Debian) for a given import?

[Michael Torrie]

On 02/01/2017 02:29 PM, Chris Green wrote:
> OK, thank you, what a strange way to do it.

Why is it strange?  Essentially, python bindings for any GObject-based
library are now fully automatic via this gi module.  No longer do we
need custom bindings for each component of a glib-based library.  This
means even your own custom libraries, if they use gobject, can be bound
dynamically to Python with no work on your part.  So lots of gnome
libraries are accessible this way, as well as GTK3.

This does come at a cost though: since the bindings are dynamic and
based on gobject types, they aren't quite as pythonic as PyGTK used to
be.  AT least that's what I've been told.  Some of the GObject stuff
leaks into the python side of things, whereas PyGTK would custom wrap
them and try to wrap some types in more familiar Python versions.

> OK, no problem, but isn't it very non-portable?

Not inherently, no.  Should work on OS X and Windows.