[Python-Dev] PEP 376 - Open questions

[Eric Smith]

P.J. Eby wrote:
> At 08:59 AM 7/8/2009 -0400, Eric Smith wrote:
>> I agree with this. For RPM's, there's a whole other database of what 
>> files were installed. Is it really the intent that a file will be 
>> managed by multiple different installers? That I can install with RPM 
>> but remove with some python-installer (or other) tool? That way lies 
>> madness. In fact, I see RECORD as an installer-specific detail that 
>> doesn't need to be standardized at all.
> 
> This is a misunderstanding.  The purpose is to let an *installer* (like 
> easy_install) know that these files belong to some other installer, and 
> not allow overwriting them.  That's why there's also an INSTALLER file.

I really don't see this use case. Supporting multiple installers for the 
same file (or even just trying to prevent two installers from writing 
the same file)? Wouldn't you be better off just saying an installer 
can't overwrite any existing file?

Likewise, I don't see a use case for installing with one installer and 
uninstalling with another.

Put those two together, and the mechanism that an installer uses to 
record what files it installed is a private implementation detail.

Eric.