[Python-checkins] r75037 - in sandbox/trunk/faq: general.rst installed.rst
andrew.kuchling
python-checkins at python.org
Wed Sep 23 03:35:56 CEST 2009
Author: andrew.kuchling
Date: Wed Sep 23 03:35:56 2009
New Revision: 75037
Log:
Update various questions
Modified:
sandbox/trunk/faq/general.rst
sandbox/trunk/faq/installed.rst
Modified: sandbox/trunk/faq/general.rst
==============================================================================
--- sandbox/trunk/faq/general.rst (original)
+++ sandbox/trunk/faq/general.rst Wed Sep 23 03:35:56 2009
@@ -22,9 +22,44 @@
under MS-DOS, Windows, Windows NT, and OS/2.
To find out more, start
-with the `Beginner's Guide to Python <http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide>`_.
+with :ref:`tutorial-index`. The
+`Beginner's Guide to Python <http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide>`_
+links to other introductory tutorials and resources for learning Python.
+What is the Python Software Foundation?
+-----------------------------------------
+
+The Python Software Foundation is an independent non-profit
+organization that holds the copyright on Python versions 2.1 and
+newer. The PSF's mission is to advance open source technology related
+to the Python programming language and to publicize the use of
+Python. The PSF's home page is at http://www.python.org/psf/.
+
+Donations to the PSF are tax-exempt in the US. If you use Python and
+find it helpful, please contribute via `the PSF donation page
+<http://www.python.org/psf/donations/>`_.
+
+Are there copyright restrictions on the use of Python?
+--------------------------------------------------------------
+
+You can do anything you want with the source, as long as
+you leave the copyrights in and display those copyrights in any
+documentation about Python that you produce. If you honor the
+copyright rules, it's OK to use Python for commercial use, to sell
+copies of Python in source or binary form (modified or unmodified), or
+to sell products that incorporate Python in some form. We would still
+like to know about all commercial use of Python, of course.
+
+See `the PSF license page </psf/license/>`_
+to find further explanations and a link to the full text of the
+license.
+
+The Python logo is trademarked, and in certain cases permission
+is required to use it. Consult
+`the Trademark Usage Policy <http://www.python.org/psf/trademarks/>`__
+for more information.
+
Why was Python created in the first place?
--------------------------------------------------
Here's a *very* brief summary of what started it all, written
@@ -80,8 +115,7 @@
XML-RPC, POP, IMAP, CGI programming), software engineering (unit testing,
logging, profiling, parsing Python code), and operating system
interfaces (system calls, filesystems, TCP/IP sockets). Look at the
-table of contents for `the Library Reference
-<http://docs.python.org/library/>`_ to get an idea of what's available.
+table of contents for :ref:`library-index` to get an idea of what's available.
A wide variety of third-party extensions are also available.
Consult `the Python Package Index <http://pypi.python.org/pypi>`_ to find
packages of interest to you.
@@ -123,34 +157,18 @@
``sys.version_info``.
-Are there copyright restrictions on the use of Python?
---------------------------------------------------------------
-
-Not really. You can do anything you want with the source, as long as
-you leave the copyrights in and display those copyrights in any
-documentation about Python that you produce. If you honor the
-copyright rules, it's OK to use Python for commercial use, to sell
-copies of Python in source or binary form (modified or unmodified), or
-to sell products that incorporate Python in some form. We would still
-like to know about all commercial use of Python, of course.
-
-See `the PSF license page </psf/license/>`_
-to find further explanations and a link to the full text of the
-license.
-
-
How do I obtain a copy of the Python source?
---------------------------------------------------
The latest Python source distribution is always available from
python.org, at http://www.python.org/download/. The latest
development sources can be obtained via anonymous Subversion
-at http://svn.python.org/projects/python/trunk
+at http://svn.python.org/projects/python/trunk.
The source distribution is a gzipped tar file containing the complete
-C source, LaTeX documentation, Python library modules, example
+C source, Sphinx-formatted documentation, Python library modules, example
programs, and several useful pieces of freely distributable software.
-This will compile and run out of the box on most UNIX platforms.
+The source will compile and run out of the box on most UNIX platforms.
Consult the `Developer FAQ <http://www.python.org/dev/devfaq.html#subversion-svn>`__
for more information on getting the source code and compiling it.
@@ -158,11 +176,8 @@
How do I get documentation on Python?
--------------------------------------------
-All documentation is available on-line, starting at
-http://www.python.org/doc/.
-
The standard documentation for the current stable version of Python is
-also available at http://docs.python.org/. PDF and downloadable HTML
+available at http://docs.python.org/. PDF, plain text, and downloadable HTML
versions are also available.
The documentation is written using
@@ -174,16 +189,12 @@
I've never programmed before. Is there a Python tutorial?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-There are numerous tutorials and books available. Consult `the
-Beginner's Guide <http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide>`_ to find
-information for beginning Python programmers, including lists of
-tutorials.
-
-Are there other FTP sites that mirror the Python distribution?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
+There are numerous tutorials and books available.
+The standard documentation includes
+:ref:`tutorial-index`.
-Mirroring has been discontinued as of March 15, 2007. Please
-`download here <http://www.python.org/download/>`_.
+Consult `the Beginner's Guide <http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide>`_ to find information for
+beginning Python programmers, including lists of tutorials.
Is there a newsgroup or mailing list devoted to Python?
--------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -210,7 +221,7 @@
Alpha and beta releases are available from
http://www.python.org/download/. All releases are announced on the
comp.lang.python and comp.lang.python.announce newsgroups and on the
-Python home page, at http://www.python.org/; an RSS feed of news is
+Python home page at http://www.python.org/; an RSS feed of news is
available.
You can also access the development version of Python through Subversion.
@@ -236,8 +247,8 @@
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's probably best to cite your favorite book about Python.
-The very first article about Python is this very old article
-that's now quite outdated.
+The very first article about Python was written in 1991 and is now
+quite outdated.
Guido van Rossum and Jelke de Boer, "Interactively Testing Remote
Servers Using the Python Programming Language", CWI Quarterly, Volume
@@ -266,12 +277,11 @@
Why is it called Python?
-------------------------------
-At the time when he began implementing Python, Guido van Rossum was
-also reading the published scripts from "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
-(a BBC comedy series from the seventies, in the unlikely case you
-didn't know). It occurred to him that he needed a name that was
-short, unique, and slightly mysterious, so he decided to call the
-language Python.
+When he began implementing Python, Guido van Rossum was also reading
+the published scripts from `"Monty Python's Flying Circus"
+<http://pythonline.com/>`__, a BBC comedy series from the 1970s. Van
+Rossum thought he needed a name that was short, unique, and slightly
+mysterious, so he decided to call the language Python.
@@ -291,12 +301,12 @@
6 to 18 months since 1991, and this seems likely to continue.
Currently there are usually around 18 months between major releases.
-With the introduction of retrospective "bugfix" releases the stability
-of existing releases is being improved. Bugfix releases, indicated by
-a third component of the version number (e.g. 2.1.3, 2.2.2), are
-managed for stability; only fixes for known problems are included in a
-bugfix release, and it's guaranteed that interfaces will remain the
-same throughout a series of bugfix releases.
+The developers issue "bugfix" releases of older versions, so the
+stability of existing releases gradually improves. Bugfix releases,
+indicated by a third component of the version number (e.g. 2.5.3,
+2.6.2), are managed for stability; only fixes for known problems are
+included in a bugfix release, and it's guaranteed that interfaces will
+remain the same throughout a series of bugfix releases.
The `2.6.2 release </download/>`_ is recommended production-ready version at
this point in time. Python 3.1 is also considered production-ready, but may be
@@ -308,14 +318,16 @@
How many people are using Python?
----------------------------------------
-Probably tens of thousands of users, though it's difficult to obtain
-an exact count. Python is available for free download, so there are
-no sales figures, and it's available from many different sites and
-packaged with many Linux distributions, so download statistics don't
-tell the whole story either. The comp.lang.python newsgroup is very
-active, but not all Python users post to the group or even read it.
-Overall there is no accurate estimate of the number of subscribers or
-Python users.
+There are probably tens of thousands of users, though it's difficult
+to obtain an exact count.
+
+Python is available for free download, so there are no sales figures,
+and it's available from many different sites and packaged with many
+Linux distributions, so download statistics don't tell the whole story
+either.
+
+The comp.lang.python newsgroup is very active, but not all Python
+users post to the group or even read it.
Have any significant projects been done in Python?
---------------------------------------------------------
@@ -331,7 +343,7 @@
notably `Red Hat <http://www.redhat.com>`_, have written part or all
of their installer and system administration software in Python. Companies
that use Python internally include Google,
-Yahoo, and Industrial Light & Magic.
+Yahoo, and Lucasfilm Ltd.
What new developments are expected for Python in the future?
@@ -340,12 +352,10 @@
See http://www.python.org/dev/peps/ for the Python Enhancement Proposals
(PEPs). PEPs are design documents describing a suggested new feature
for Python, providing a concise technical specification and a
-rationale.
-`PEP 1 </dev/peps/pep-0001/>`_
-explains the PEP process and PEP format; read it
-first if you want to submit a PEP.
+rationale. Look for a PEP titled "Python X.Y Release Schedule",
+where X.Y is a version that hasn't been publicly released yet.
-New developments are discussed on `the python-dev mailing list <http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev/>`_.
+New development is discussed on `the python-dev mailing list <http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev/>`_.
Is it reasonable to propose incompatible changes to Python?
@@ -357,31 +367,18 @@
upon. Even if you can provide a conversion program, there's still
the problem of updating all documentation; many books have been
written about Python, and we don't want to invalidate them all at a
-single stroke.
+single stroke.
Providing a gradual upgrade path is necessary if a feature has to be
changed. `PEP 5 </dev/peps/pep-0005/>`_
describes the procedure followed for introducing backward-incompatible
changes while minimizing disruption for users.
-
-What is the Python Software Foundation?
------------------------------------------
-
-The Python Software Foundation is an independent non-profit
-organization that holds the copyright on Python versions 2.1 and
-newer. The PSF's mission is to advance open source technology related
-to the Python programming language and to publicize the use of
-Python. The PSF's home page is at http://www.python.org/psf/.
-
-Donations to the PSF are tax-exempt in the US. If you use Python and
-find it helpful, please contribute via `the PSF donation page
-</psf/donations/>`_.
-
-
-
Is Python Y2K (Year 2000) Compliant?
--------------------------------------------
+
+.. remove this question?
+
As of August, 2003 no major problems have been reported and Y2K
compliance seems to be a non-issue.
@@ -421,7 +418,7 @@
Yes.
-It is still common to start students with a procedural (subset of a)
+It is still common to start students with a procedural and
statically typed language such as Pascal, C, or a subset of C++ or
Java. Students may be better served by learning Python as their first
language. Python has a very simple and consistent syntax and a large
@@ -483,7 +480,7 @@
http://www.python.org/editors/ for a full list of Python editing
environments.
-If you want to discuss Python's use in education, then you may
+If you want to discuss Python's use in education, you may
be interested in joining `the edu-sig mailing list </community/sigs/current/edu-sig>`_.
Upgrading Python
@@ -492,6 +489,8 @@
What is this bsddb185 module my application keeps complaining about?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
+.. XXX remove this question?
+
Starting with Python2.3, the distribution includes the `PyBSDDB package
<http://pybsddb.sf.net/>` as a replacement for the old bsddb module. It
includes functions which provide backward compatibility at the API level,
Modified: sandbox/trunk/faq/installed.rst
==============================================================================
--- sandbox/trunk/faq/installed.rst (original)
+++ sandbox/trunk/faq/installed.rst Wed Sep 23 03:35:56 2009
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@
applications. It's used in some high schools and colleges as an
introductory programming language because Python is easy to learn, but
it's also used by professional software developers at places such as Google,
-NASA, and Industrial Light & Magic.
+NASA, and Lucasfilm Ltd.
-If you're curious about finding out more about Python, start with the
+If you wish to learn more about Python, start with the
`Beginner's Guide to Python <http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide>`_.
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@
* A third-party application installed on the machine might have been written
in Python and included a Python installation. For a home computer,
the most common such application is
- `PySol <http://www.oberhumer.com/opensource/pysol/>`_,
- a solitaire game that includes over 200 different games and variations.
+ `PySol <http://pysolfc.sourceforge.net/>`_,
+ a solitaire game that includes over 1000 different games and variations.
* Some Windows machines also have Python installed. At this writing we're
aware of computers from Hewlett-Packard and Compaq that include Python.
Apparently some of HP/Compaq's administrative tools are written in Python.
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
Control Panel.
If Python was installed by a third-party application, you can also
-remove it, but that application will no longer work. You should probably
+remove it, but that application will no longer work. You should
use that application's uninstaller rather than removing Python directly.
If Python came with your operating system, removing it is not
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