[tbox-l] Python compiled with gcc, but no gcc RPM is provided

[Ole H. N. <Ole...@fy...>]

Dear developers of AIX toolbox for Linux applications,

I have installed the Linux tools on an AIX 4.3.3.7 server,
and everything went smoothly !!  We want to run our own application
based on the Python language, so I installed your python
packages.

When we try to add packages to your Python, we run into a 
show-stopper problem:  We want to install the Numerical Python
package from http://sourceforge.net/projects/numpy which requires 
the Distutils package from http://www.python.org/sigs/distutils-sig/
at the Python 1.5.2 level (it's included in later Pythons).

After installing Distutils, the installation of Numerical Python
fails because your Python has been built using the GNU gcc
compiler.  We have been unable to find any way to configure
the Distutils package to use the IBM C for AIX 5.0 compiler,
which we use on AIX 4.3.3.  The Python interpreter apparently
insists on compiling with the same compiler that was used to
compile Python itself, i.e., gcc.  

Question:  Is it possible for IBM to solve this problem ?
One might imagine 2 solutions:  1) Compile your Python RPMs
using the IBM C compiler, or 2) provide an RPM containing
the gcc-compiler that you have used.

With best regards,

Ole Holm Nielsen
Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark,
Building 307, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
E-mail: mailto:Ole...@fy...
WWW URL: http://www.fysik.dtu.dk/~ohnielse/
Telephone: (+45) 45 25 31 87 / Telefax: (+45) 45 93 23 99