[Python-Dev] Windows package for new SSL package? (original) (raw)

David Bolen db3l.net at gmail.com
Thu Sep 13 05:41:57 CEST 2007

"Mark Hammond" <mhammond at skippinet.com.au> writes:

It might be possible to try and use buildssl.py to locate the openssl directory, but this will still require that someone building it has Python built from source - I'm fairly sure that someone installing a Python binary will not have buildssl.py, nor are they likely to have a suitable openssl directory or installation just "hanging around" either.

Yep - even if a Windows user has an appropriate development environment in general (and can build most standalone extensions with just a binary Python install), as you say the odds are pretty small they'd have an OpenSSL source tree around, with libraries built.

At the same time, I suspect that only a small percentage of Windows users will want to rebuild the extension - rather they'll just want a binary installer, something not uncommon to be published for Windows users of many extension modules. So that pushes the problem upstream a bit where having a Python development tree might be more common or familiar.

Rather than a lot of complexity to cater to that small percentage, I'd probably just make setup.py need an explicit configuration - editing, or perhaps environment variable - for the location of the root of the OpenSSL source tree. As you say, there's no guaranteed way to find it otherwise, although I suppose it might try checking relative to the Python executable (along the same lines as build_ssl.py) in case it's being built from within the source tree.

Adding some comments that following instructions to build Python from source (or at least the standard _ssl module) will yield just such a tree should be a simple enough as a reference for those who need it.

The setup.py does also need to understand the different library names (and required system libraries) to build properly under Windows, as you've already highlighted, but that should be relatively easy to vary by platform.

-- David

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