[Python-Dev] [Pydotorg] Should we help pythonmac.org? (original) (raw)

Fred Drake fdrake at acm.org
Tue Aug 19 14:51:36 CEST 2008

On Aug 19, 2008, at 3:45 AM, fuzzyman at mail2.webfaction.com wrote:

I thought (relative Mac newbie), the standard advice was that if you want to install extension modules then you should install your own version of Python and not mess with the system version.

My understanding is that if there is a system Python, you shouldn't
change it. Ever.

System Python's are for other components of the system; you can use
them, but shouldn't modify them. Including installing or updating
packages in the site-packages directory.

At Zope Corporation, we use a clean Python for all development and
deployments. Nothing gets installed into the site-packages, because
different applications want different packages (or different
versions), and we want to deploy with what we test with.

Meaning that you have to maintain two Python installs - something that hasn't been a problem for me yet. So even if Mac OS ships with Python 2.6, many users will still want to install their own version.

Indeed. I've never had to do anything to maintain the system Python
on Mac OS X. It's there, Mac OS X does what it will with it, and I
use my private (and squeaky clean!) Python installations.

-Fred

-- Fred Drake

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