[Pythonmac-SIG] Python Distributables?

[Richard Gordon]

[This is actually an offshoot from the "Using Python or Java for data 
analysis" thread- RG]

At 13:40 -0700 4/5/1999, Chris Barker wrote:
> >7). Application delivery.  Final product as an application for others to
> >use.
>
>I'd like to see this easier to do with Python. You would probably have
>to distribute Python, and all the modules that you need with your
>app. This might make it a bit messier than it has to be. On Linux, yopu
>could make a rpm out of it, and it would be pretty easy. On the mac, you
>could make an installer that would be pretty easy, or even put
>everything you need into the Resource fork, and make it look like a
>stand alone app.

I am very interested in this aspect of Python, but am also very 
confused. I have a fairly small, single purpose app that I originally 
developed in Perl with the intent of selling it over the internet. I 
ultimately concluded that Perl was not the way to go with this 
because a) providing a GUI for Mac and Windows meant doing everything 
twice using dissimilar tools and b) Perl is too open to be of any use 
in a shareware application.

So I got interested in Python because of tkinter and because I 
understood that distributables could be byte code compiled which 
would make it at least a little harder for some kid in a dorm room to 
rip me off. But I'm very fuzzy about what would be required in the 
actual distribution in order for it to run x-platform (I'm omitting 
Linux as a target because Linux users are unlikely to be very 
interested in paying for something that they could probably figure 
out on their own). Anyway, this is just a text manipulation utility 
and doesn't do anything especially elaborate, but would be of 
interest to anyone who has to import data into a database or 
spreadsheet and doesn't understand grep or is too lazy to develop 
their own solution (i.e., most Mac users and virtually all Windows 
users).

Ideally, a distributable would use identical code (with some platform 
branching perhaps), would not require a full Python install, and 
would only include the bare essentials as far as modules are 
concerned. Any thoughts?


Richard Gordon
--------------------
Gordon Consulting & Design
Database Design/Scripting Languages
mailto://maccgi@bellsouth.net
770.565.8267