[Pythonmac-SIG] What is the future of Python on OSX?

[Schollnick, Benjamin]

> Let me take a shot at an initial database format. I'm making this up 
> as I go, so there's probably holes in it. The XML file has a head 
> section with the DTD and version and other mumbo-jumbo, and the body 
> is a list of packages. A package consists of a name, a version, a 
> one-line description, a URL at which the user can find out more 
> information, a list of dependencies, an existence test script and an 
> install script.

One large, major comment....

But first, a disclaimer.... I haven't been following this tooo closely...

XML is not a database system....  Please don't try to force XML to do a job
it has not been designed to fill... 

Yes it can be used as a "flat" database, but that is probably not going to
be suitable (long term).... Instead use Mysql, or some other true database
program....

Allow XML to be used for submissions, or for "description files", or
whatever... But allow a database program to handle the actual database
searches...

If we do use a flat database design, based off of XML, then create some form
of external indexes to reduce the amount of time we have to parse the
XML....

Or possible shelve the XML data....  After every modification, just shelve
it to a file, and when it's accessed just load it back in from the
shelve....

(I've seen flat database systems that have completely outgrown there
capacity....)

		- Benjamin