[Pythonmac-SIG] Re: Pythonmac-SIG Digest, Vol 12, Issue 38

[Daniel Lord]

Just one opinion and experience and for what little it's worth: I find 
that compiling from source but configuring and installing a 'framework' 
install and using Aqua TCL/TK works but is problematic due to a few 
sticky areas including: PIL which I cannot get to compile though I 
haven't tried very hard, having to use pythonw as the command to force 
OS X to behave properly, and some Tkinter GUI attributes are overridden 
by Apples Gestapo-like UI enforcement (just  kidding about the Gestapo 
comparison BTW but they are strict about it <grin>).

Non-standard paths due to the framework install are most likely are the 
reason I struggle with PIL. This is a pain and it may be what Russell 
is alluding to when stating that an aqua/Mac install can cause 
conflicts and trouble. It appears it does.

Sticking with X/standard python is what I would do if I could do it 
over again. I used to use Fink but have moved away from it FYI. Stay as 
'standard' as you can and you'll avoid a lot of extra and cumbersome 
work in the future. There is always something you'll want to use that 
breaks on a 'non-standard' install. And if you are not particularly 
skilled in the nuances of Python environments and I am not, though many 
regular contributors here are, it is vexing to be unable to run some 
standard and not-so-standard additions. X11 on OS X seems to work very 
well as of Panther OS X and I second Russell's recommendation.

--Daniel

>
>> I would like to "upgrade" my instal of Python to MacPython. I'm 
>> running
>> Mac OS 10.3.3 and, having just used the MacPython additions installer,
>> I realise that its updated the system copy of Python, not my instal.
>>
>> Question: How do I add the appropriate modules to my
>> /usr/local/bin/Python2.3/ (my 2.3.3 instal) rather than the system
>> versh? I've looked through MacPython's FAQ as suggested elsewhere on
>> the MacPython web site but I didn't see anything directly relevant.
>
> This is a bit confusing as stated.
>
> MacOS X 10.3 comes with python 2.3.0 in /System. You should not touch
> that. You will not ever get it up to 2.3.3. Also, it does NOT coexist
> well with other MacPython aqua/python installations.
>
> If you just ran the MacPython extras installer then you are safe. This
> uses the Python in /System without touching it, but adds a MacPython
> folder in Applications with useful extras such as an IDE, the Package
> Manager and help.
>
> This built in python puts extra modules in /Library/Python/2.3/ and if
> you do the normal distutils thing to install packages (or use Package
> Manager) then that is exactly where they will end up.
>
> If you installed Python 2.3.3 as an aqua/Mac installation (rather than 
> a
> straight unix/X install) then you can expect conflicts and trouble. I'm
> not fully up on what goes wrong, but it is a bad idea.
>
> You *CAN* safely install plain vanilla unix/X python (and I do that
> myself). In that case add-on packages are not shared so you'll have to
> install them twice, once per version of python, being sure to use the
> right version of python in both cases. For example:
>
> /usr/local/bin/python setup.py install
> vs
> /usr/bin/python setup.py install
>
> or if you have /usr/local/bin first on your path you can do as I do:
> python setup.py install for unix python
> pythonw setup.py install for aqua python
>
> I hope this didn't make things yet more confusing.
>
> -- Russell