[Distutils] Installing scripts
Fred L. Drake, Jr.
fdrake at acm.org
Thu Jun 10 16:27:29 EDT 2004
On Thursday 10 June 2004 04:06 pm, Tim Peters wrote:
> "scripts" in the sense we're using here are Python files, and in Windows
> they're only useful from "a DOS box". It's not useful to double-click on
> them, it's not useful to have Start menu entries(*) for them, and it would
Agreed.
> be hostile to hide them in a hard-to-spell-in-a-DOS-box directory (like
> anywhere under the space-ridden "Program Files").
What's a little hostility among Windows users? They're used to it. :-)
Seriously, though, I agree. "Program Files" is hostile in general for anyone
using a command line.
> For cross-platform *development*, all Python files should have a .py
> extension. On Windows the extension drives editors and printers too (not
> just the "open" action in a DOS box window).
I'm actually pretty OK with this. It's slightly distasteful, but survivable.
> If the build_scripts command wants to strip .py extensions on non-Windows
> boxes, that's fine by me.
Cool.
> I'm happy enough with where they end up on
> Windows now, and delighted there are no Start menu entries for them, it's
> just the lack of the natural (on Windows) .py extension that creates
> needless pain (on Windows).
Again, agreed. We just need to make sure the .py is there on Windows and not
on installed scripts on Unix.
> (*) The only thing useful to have in the Start menu is a program
> that supplies its own GUI, or a program that has no UI. On Windows,
> that's what the .pyw extension is for (brings up Python without
> "a DOS box", so there's no UI at all unless the script supplies
> its own UI; for example, IDLE supplies its own UI, via Tk).
This brings up a related question: If a distribution provides scripts that
end with .pyw, should they be omitted from the builld/installation on
non-Windows platforms (possibly with a warning to the user)? Do we want a
way to tell distutils about platform-specific scripts so they don't get
installed on platforms to which they don't apply?
-Fred
--
Fred L. Drake, Jr. <fdrake at acm.org>
PythonLabs at Zope Corporation
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