Python, Be Bold!

[Michael Torrie]

On 1/2/20 1:33 PM, Chris Angelico wrote:
> Using a package manager means you have ONE copy of the Python
> interpreter, and all your scripts depend on it. If you update that
> interpreter, ALL scripts benefit from the update. This is a solved
> problem.

Except that it's not actually a solved problem.  We thought it was but
then found the limitations.  Linux distros are actually moving away from
a pure packager dependency model, especially for applications. System
components, yes. Makes a lot of sense. Makes less sense for user-facing
things.  That's why there's a lot of movement going with regards to
solutions like flatpak, snap, and even AppImage.  RPMs and debs are
never going to go away, but they do have limitations for the kind of
thing the OP is talking about.  Right now in Fedora land, a very
appropriate way to bundle a python application is in a flatpak, bundled
with the appropriate versions of Python and the libraries you depend on.
 More and more apps on Ubuntu are being delivered via snaps too.
Especially ones that move fast like Firefox, or even LibreOffice.

I use several apps that are flatpaks because my distro is old and stable
(CentOS 7) and doesn't have a lot of the dependent shiny libs modern
apps require. Flatpak lets me run them while keeping the core system
very conservative and stable.