Re: [Visualpython-users] History and Status?

[Jonathan B. <jbr...@ea...>]

On Mon, 2003-02-17 at 21:49, Bruce Sherwood wrote:
> I did ask about this at the time I was creating a Linux installer, and I
> didn't get any clear answer. I was left with the impression that there is
> quite a bit of flux in the Linux community. I think you should just poll
> this VPython list for opinions and preferences; there seem to be plenty of
> people reading this list who use Linux a lot. There doesn't seem to be one
> right answer, so why not do what this group suggests?
> 
> The docs issue is an interesting one, in that here again there is quite a
> bit of variation. For example, Windows Python comes with extensive
> documentation, but at least in the past if I remember correctly Mac Python
> didn't. I certainly want Visual docs to be included with Visual, at least
> for most users, but maybe here again this is not okay with experts.


Here is one idea for Debian that looks consistant with other Debian
packages on my system.  I think that as binary debs, Vpython could be
installed in three packages, like this:

python2.2-visual:
	Install runtime shared object library and runtime scripts in 
	/usr/lib/site-packages/visual
	Install documentation in /usr/share/doc/python-visual

python2.2-visual-examples:
	Install the demonstration scripts in
	/usr/share/doc/python-visual/examples

(until no longer required)
python2.2-visual-idle:
	Install the scripts in /usr/bin/python-visual-idle
	, with a symlink from /usr/bin/python-visual/idle.py to  
	/usr/bin/vidle.py

The first package is the only one that someone must have to get started
with visual.  We can use the deb dependancy system to ensure that
Numeric, Tkinter, and Python2.2 are installed if required.  We can add
some remarks on the website that briefly explain what they are, although
I think that the package names are fairly self-explanatory.  

Can anyone confirm or refute similar behavior on other Linux
distributions?  Since I custom built my visual componants, I have
everything installed under /usr/local instead of /usr, using the same
scheme.

Arthur has convinced me that the right way to go for source and binary
distributions is to provide a setup.py (or other appropriate mechanism,
e.g, debs, windows exe) that does The Right Thing.  IMO, The Right Thing
is that which bears the same look and feel as other extension modules
for a given platform.  We may be able to provide binaries for only a few
platforms, so the source distribution must be clean.

As for the question, "Can the average non-programmer handle installing
many packages?" IMHO, _given proper instructions_, the answer is yes.  I
honestly do not see a connection between an inability to handle
dependancies, and a lack of programming experience.

-Jonathan