[IPython-dev] subprocess vs popen

[Fernando Perez]

[ Ccing the dev list where this discussion fits best]

On Sun, May 16, 2010 at 5:49 PM, Kevin Beckford <lcc at lazyweb.ca> wrote:
>There was a bug on lp a while ago about why you were not going to fix:
>
> !ls
>
> Deprecation Warning .....
>
> in ipython.
>
> I agree , subprocess is a horrid interface, that's the word I want,
> horrid. Thus i went looking for and found this:
>
> http://pypi.python.org/pypi/iterpipes/0.4
>
> But ipython does _not_ use external libs right?

Cool, thanks for the link!  I hadn't seen it.

IPython *does* use external libs if they are either:

- small enough to carry our private copy in IPython.external

- large but central to some (optional) functionality, like Wx for gui
support or Twisted for parallel computing.

This would fit case #1.

I'd suggest that if you like it and use it for a while, you propose it
on the ipython-dev list for inclusion.  We now tend to be more
conservative in pulling in new libraries than before (it's all code to
maintain, after all), but I could see an 'ipython system shell'
project growing in this direction, if enough people (aka not me) pitch
in to do the
work.

Regards

f