[Python-Dev] Python and the Linux Standard Base (LSB) (original) (raw)

Ian Murdock imurdock at imurdock.com
Wed Nov 22 17:09:35 CET 2006

Hi everyone,

Guido van Rossum suggested I send this email here.

I'm CTO of the Free Standards Group and chair of the Linux Standard Base (LSB), the interoperability standard for the Linux distributions. We're wanting to add Python to the next version of the LSB (LSB 3.2) [1] and are looking for someone (or, better, a few folks) in the Python community to help us lead the effort to do that. The basic goal is to standardize the Python environment compliant Linux distributions (Red Hat, SUSE, Debian, Ubuntu, etc.) provide so that application developers can write LSB compliant applications in Python.

[1] http://www.freestandards.org/en/LSB_Roadmap

The first question we have to answer is: What does it mean to "add Python to the LSB"? Is it enough to say that Python is present at a certain version and above, or do we need to do more than that (e.g., many distros ship numerous Python add-ons which apps may or may not rely on--do we need to specific some of these too)? What would be the least common denominator version? Answering this question will require us to look at the major Linux distros (RHEL, SLES, Debian, Ubuntu, etc.) to see what versions they ship. And so on.

Once we've decided how best to specify that Python is present, how do we test that it is indeed present? Of course, there's the existing Python test suites, so there shouldn't be a lot of work to do here.

Another question is how to handle binary modules. The LSB provides strict backward compatibility at the binary level, even across major versions, and that may or may not be appropriate for Python. The LSB is mostly concerned with backward compatibility from an application developer's point of view, and this would seem to mean largely 100% Python, whereas C extensions would seem to be largely the domain of component developers, such as Python access to Gtk or other OS services (here, we'd probably look to add those components to the LSB directly rather than specifying the Python ABI so they can be maintained separately). Of course I could be wrong about this.

Anyway, as you can see, there are numerous issues to work out here. If anyone is interested in getting involved, please drop me a line, and I'd be happy to answer any questions (discussion on any of the topics above would be welcomed as well). Finally, for any Python developers in and around Berlin, the LSB is holding its next face to face meeting in Berlin December 4-6, where the LSB 3.2 roadmap will be finalized. If you could find some time to stop by and talk with us, we would deeply appreciate it:

http://www.freestandards.org/en/LSB_face-to-face_%28December_2006%29

Thanks,

-ian

Ian Murdock 317-863-2590 http://ianmurdock.com/

"Don't look back--something might be gaining on you." --Satchel Paige

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