Re: Documenting Python Debuntuisms
Barry> First, when Python searches for a module to import, only
Barry> sys.path is consulted (modulo other import hooks). It doesn't
Barry> really treat $PYTHONPATH or the cwd any differently. It does
Barry> initialize sys.path from $PYTHONPATH and it does (sometimes)
Barry> include a special marker (the empty string) first on sys.path to
Barry> indicate the cwd, but once Python's machinery gets going
Barry> $PYTHONPATH is ignored.
Thanks for pointing this out. I made the appropriate changes.
[skipping a lot of lines ...]
Barry> This means that if you install Python from-source, as many
Barry> Python developers do through the default cmmi build, and system
Barry> administrators do achieve Python builds isolated from critical
Barry> system resources, you could break your system Python by
Barry> installing incompatible packages into what you thought was an
Barry> isolated environment.
You mean because the source install of Python installs into
/usr/local/lib/python3.1/site-packages in addition to /usr/local? It
still does if I recall correctly.
Barry> Because it was unlikely upstream Python was going to change
Barry> (e.g. To install from source by default into /opt) or that
Barry> Debian Python policy was going to change, Doko came up with a
Barry> clever compromise of changing the system Python's /usr/local
Barry> claim to be dist-packages instead (mirrored to /usr/lib space
Barry> for convenience and consistency). This seemed like a perfectly
Barry> workable solution, which I still agree with, despite the mild
Barry> surprise factor for seasoned non-Debian-versed Python
Barry> developers.
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