Re: Language extensions in programs under /usr/bin
On Mon, Oct 06, 2003 at 08:26:44PM -0400, Marco Paganini <paganini-debian-devel@paganini.net> was heard to say:
> I'm packaging a Python program called "ask" for distribution. Currently,
> the main executable is called "ask.py". It seems unusual (and why not say,
> *ugly*) to have the language extension added to the program, but in this
> case, it was a deliberate decision to avoid clash with any other programs
> ("ask" is a pretty common name) under /usr/bin. What is the Debian policy
> on this? What would be the best approach, to leave the program as "ask.py"
> (unusual) or rename it to "ask" (possibility of name conflicts and breakage
> of existing installations)?
I think it's worth pointing out that if a file called "ask.py" is in
/usr/bin, the statement:
import ask
from a Python program in /usr/bin which hasn't modified its sys.path
will, unless I am terribly confused, pick up ask.py instead of whatever
module it was looking for. I'm not aware of any module named "ask"
right now, but I can certainly imagine someone creating one.
Daniel
--
/-------------------- Daniel Burrows <dburrows@debian.org> -------------------\
| Put no trust in cryptic comments. |
\---------------------- A duck! -- http://www.python.org ---------------------/
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