[Pythonmac-SIG] Future of MacPython? (Was: Type/creator issues with MacPython on OS X)

[Dinu Gherman]

Jack Jansen wrote:
> 
> For the future we're working on a way to make Python
> "line-ending-agnostic". I have a quick hack that will make both Unix
> and Mac lineendings work (but not MSDOS lineendings) for
> MacPython. But some people are thinking about the general problem, so
> also solving it for unix-Python and PythonWin and dos-lineendings,
> etc.

<mode type="heretic">
A delicate question if I dare say so: how relevant is this
really for future versions of MacPython? And/or how relevant
is the current MacPython interpreter itself, when you need
to add attributes like 'classic', while referring to it on 
Apples current/new platform?
</mode>

Given that Apple has started selling (or will be doing so,
shortly) all their boxes with OS X preinstalled [1] - alas, 
not enabled by default on all of them), wouldn't it make 
more sense to write a Cocoa and/or Carbon front-end *only* 
to a Darwin Python backend, similar to TeXShop [2] as a 
front-end to (La)TeX? 

Note that I have no idea if and when Apple is planning to
let their *classic* machinary die and switch maybe entirely 
over to Darwin/Cocoa. It could be years, but it seems like 
there are no dev tools for the classic/Carbon world on the 
CDs coming with OS X (or I haven't digged very well) while 
there are all for Cocoa (Interface and Project Builder, etc), 
that happen to be very much the same as those on NeXTSTEP/
OpenStep, BTW...

If MacPython would be maintained in the future for the Mac 
"die-hards" only, and/or for boxes too small, slow or old to 
run OS X, I guess it is understandable if Windows/Unix folks 
continue not to care about any PEPs that might need to mo-
dify interpreters on other platforms.

Regards,

Dinu

[1]  http://www.macworld.com/2001/01/09/osx.html
[2]  http://www.uoregon.edu/~koch/texshop/texshop.html