[MATRIX-SIG] NumPy and 1.5, and NumPy and MacPython

[Konrad Hinsen]

> >   1)  How do we ``release'' NumPy?
> > 	a) Which site has the ``master'' copy?
> 
> I think www.python.org is the logical place for the master copy, it gets
> automatically mirrored.

I agree. Of course LLNL's site would be another obvious choice, but
at least for me it's practically inaccessible (2 bytes/second!).

> > 	d) How do we accomodate our 3 primary architectures in the release?
> > 	    + UNIX
> > 	    + WINDOWS
> > 	    + MACINTOSH

I'd prefer a general source distribution for all platforms, plus
binaries for Windows/Intel and the Mac. That should cover most
needs.

> >   2)  What goes into NumPy-1.0?
> > 	a) Compatible with Python-1.5 (and 1.4, ...).
> > 	b) What else?

In the long run, I'd like to see a package structure for NumPy.
Maybe that's not doable sufficiently fast, but at least a new
release should be structured to take into account an eventual
package version.

> I have a compiled NumPy on NT for Python 1.5.  It is based on Konrad
> Hinsen's NumPy release, which is a bit modified presumably for easier
> installation on Unix systems.  As it is, Konrad's release modifies the
> C API slightly, so that old NumPy.dll is no longer compatible, and is

The C API is not modified at the source code level, but to the
linker it looks very different. Nevertheless, modules compiled
with the "traditional" arrayobject.h should continue to work
with a DLL made from my modified version, but inversely it wouldn't
work.

> Note that the sources could use some cleanup, they compile with tons
> of warnings, but without errors.  Also I'm not sure how widely people
> use the C API directly, and if Konrad's changes are acceptable to
> everyone.  I've made some changes to sources (mainly .def files), but
> the distribution should still compile without added problems on Unix.

I don't know whether my API modification is necessary or advantageous
under Windows. If the old one is better, a simple system-dependent
modification in arrayobject.h would be sufficient. For Unix, the
API modifications are essential to permit uniform installation of
other C extension modules on all machines.
-- 
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Konrad Hinsen                          | E-Mail: hinsen@ibs.ibs.fr
Laboratoire de Dynamique Moleculaire   | Tel.: +33-4.76.88.99.28
Institut de Biologie Structurale       | Fax:  +33-4.76.88.54.94
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