OT: ~gohlke [Was: Installation hell]

[Mike Dewhirst]

On 20/12/2022 9:28 am, Mats Wichmann wrote:
> On 12/19/22 14:47, Eryk Sun wrote:
>
>> If you search a bit deeper, you'll find a site with unofficial Windows
>> builds of many packages, including pygame for Python 3.11:
>>
>> https://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/#pygame
> Semi-OT: that's been a superb resource, but apparently it's no longer 
> maintained - internet scuttlebutt suggests the project which let it 
> exist has lost funding.  The link above is a mirror, marked 
> "Archived", and I can't see there's been any addition since July 1. 
> (sadly... I happen to need an lxml build for experimenting with 3.12 
> alphas, and that's an absolute bear to build for WIndows - I've never 
> cracked it)

That is dreadful news! Windows as a dev platform is dead without it. 
That is serious.

Back on topic - Installation hell

I use Windows for historic reasons related to needing to support 99% of 
my customers/dependents who also use it. I'm the only one who also uses 
Linux - but only non-GUI Linux.

Windows works for me as a dev platform because there are so many 
talented Python people out there who make it work. It would be 
impossible otherwise. I would be forced to to learn two GUIs if I had to 
develop on Linux.

I'm here to tell you that dev and production on different OSs works 
without a hitch! For me.

Whoever wrote the installation docs for Windows did a great job. All the 
bases and options are covered. Absolutely no-one could complain that any 
pertinent detail has been omitted.

Some marketing research is indicated. The OP who started this thread 
could define themself in exquisite detail so that installation 
infrastructure including documentation can be developed to suit that 
market exemplar.

I think there are several separate markets. Eg., for someone like me ... 
locked into Windows (but not Microsoft otherwise) and needing to target 
Linux web servers. That would allow a branching of the installation docs 
to home in, say, on virtual envs and multiple Python installations in 
the root of drive C: (well away from "Program files") and so on.

If the OP says they are an educated computer scientist they could become 
a hero and write up a tightly focused set of docs (extracted from the 
comprehensive canonical docs) which assume their particular "market", 
for want of a better term.

The PSF might recognise the effort and be able to promote such a high 
interest from Windows Python devs into funding for Chris Gohlke.

Cheers

Mike


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