[SciPy-dev] Scikits and stuff

[Stefan van der Walt]

On Fri, Dec 28, 2007 at 01:42:05AM -0600, Travis E. Oliphant wrote:
> scikits --- For BSD third-party packages.  These may be packages with 
> wide-spread appeal with a different calling convention than scipy or 
> packages that the developers are not done with or just want to keep 
> their own release cycles.  Code may come out of here for inclusion into 
> scipy, but it will do so using:
> 
> scipy-somepackage (imports as scipy.somepackage but is distributed 
> separately) --- Packages that will soon be released with scipy but for 
> now are being distributed alone because they need a faster release 
> cycle.  These packages involve the input of SciPy developers more than a 
> scikits package might.

I think this may cause some confusion: how would you explain to users
that, while they have the latest scipy installed, they cannot import a
sub-package under the root scipy namespace?  If the package was
located under scipy.scikit.somepackage, that would be a bit better,
but I recall that Robert said it would be troublesome to implement.

As for the scikits, I'd like to see them all under one roof,
regardless of their licenses (they were created to support non-BSD
licensing, IIRC).

Regards
Stéfan