[Numpy-discussion] Numpy 1.3.0 rc1 OS X Installer

[Chris Barker]

David Cournapeau wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 11:06 PM, Robert Pyle <rpyle at post.harvard.edu> wrote:
>> This one installs, but only in /Library/Python/2.5/site-packages/,
>> that is, for Apple's system python.  This happened when `which python`
>> pointed to either EPD python or python.org's 2.5.4.
> 
> Yes, what your default python is does not matter: I don't know the
> details, but it looks like the mac os x installer only looks whether a
> python binary exists in /System/Library/..., that is the one I used to
> build the package. You can see this in the Info.plist inside the
> .mpkg.


Well, this is the big question: what python(s) should be provide 
binaries for -- I think if you're only going to do one, it should be the 
python.org build, so that you can support 10.4, and 10.5 and everyone 
can use it.

There are ways to build an installer that puts it in a place that both 
can find it -- wxPython does this -- but I'm not so sure that's a good idea.

One of the key questions is how one should think of Apple's Python. They 
are using it for some system tools, so we really shouldn't break it. If 
you upgrade the numpy it comes with, there is some chance that you could 
break something.

Also, Apple has not (and likely won't) upgrade their Python. I know I 
happened to run into a bug and needed a newer 2.5, so I'd rather have 
the control.

A few years ago the MacPython community (as represented by the members 
of the pythonmac list) decided that the python.org build was that one 
that we should all target for binaries. That consensus has weakened with 
10.5, as Apple did provide a Python that is fairly up to date and almost 
fully functional, but I think it's still a lot easier on everyone if we 
just stick with the python.org build as the one to target for binaries.

That being said, it shouldn't be hard to build separate binaries for 
each python -- they would be identical except for where they get 
installed, and if they are clearly marked for downloading, there 
shouldn't be too much confusion.

-Chris