[Python-Dev] Re: Stability and change (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido@python.org
Mon, 08 Apr 2002 12:28:39 -0400

I wonder if decoupling more of the standard library isn't a good idea, although it flies in the face of "batteries included".

I think it will be a bad thing, unless we can automate it to perfection (more about that below).

One thing I like about XEmacs's model is that I kind of get both for little effort. I want all the latest packages, but I don't want to re-install XEmacs to get them. So I use the package manager, which isn't exactly one-click-updates, but it's pretty simple to use.

For most mortals, the XEmacs package manager simply sucks. Maybe that is because it's broken out of the box and you have to find the right webpage that tells you how to manually fix some things. But it still sucks.

The only thing that might work IMO would be something that pulls down the latest (compatible) library modules when you say "make install", or in a post-install script when using RPMs or some such thing. But even then, the people distributing Python on CD with their books lose -- those CDs are there for folks who have a slow or non-existent network connection.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)