[Pyobjc-dev] PyObjC and OSX versions

[David B. <db3...@gm...>]

I originally developed an application when Tiger was mainstream and
PyObjC 1.x still current.  For a long time now I've mastered my
distributions on a 10.4.10 Tiger system with PyObjC 1.4, and had no
problem with people running them on 10.4, 10.5, and even 10.6 systems.
I even prevented the 10.4.11 update from installing on my build
machine since it would have broken a WebKit interface I used.
Realizing that there were issues using PyObjC 2.x and trying to have
something that could run on Tiger, I didn't plan on changing the
process any time soon, and just watched the various threads here about
those issues pass by.

However, my build system's disk died a horrible death last week.
While I'm in the process of rebuilding, I took it as a sign and
figured I should bite the bullet and start experimenting with more
recent build tools.  So I've got a 10.6.2 Snow Leopard system that
I've been testing as my next build system.

In looking around though, I'm not having a lot of luck trying to find
a decent explanation of how to best serve a varied customer base from
a 10.6 development system.  I know I need PyObjC 1.4 to target Tiger,
but can I build/use that on my 10.6 system?  And will my PyObjC 2.2
build under 10.6.2 work under 10.5 systems (I don't have any handy to
test)?

Is there is reasonable summary of the pieces and host platforms needed
to support clients with a mixture of 10.4-10.6 systems?  Is it easier
if I exclude 10.4, or is 10.5 just as hard if you're using a 10.6
build system?  I assume sticking with 32-bit is best (and not an issue
for me).

In some initial trials, I'm sticking with the system Python 2.5.4,
32-bit mode.  Looks like the system PyObjC is 2.2b3.  I expect that in
a final setup, to maintain better control, I'd install a local python
(probably still prefer 2.5.x for now due to other libraries) and my
own PyObjC/py2app.

Aside from running into an issue with QtKit - wish I had caught up to
this list sooner since it was the same movieWithAttributes parameter
issue where it had to be an NSDictionary mentioned recently - things
seem fine on 10.6 systems.  As expected, it doesn't even get off the
ground on a 10.4 system.  Not sure about 10.5 (don't have one to test
on).

Just wondering what best practices are to create an application that
has the ability to run on as many client OS releases as possible, or
at least know how many different builds I have to create.

Thanks for any pointers or information.

-- David