Third Party Modules

[Brock]

Hi Everyone,

I know this is most likely a basic question and you will roll your
eyes, but I am just starting out with Python (hobbyist) and I see many
tutorials on the web referring to the use of external modules.

However, when I locate them, they often come as a zipped folder with a
number of files. How do I install them? In addition, is there an
easy way to manage external modules? Some I see require additional
modules not included.

Where I am coming from is R, which has a point-and-click way of
getting packages not distributed with the version of the software, so
that is my point of reference.

Many thanks!

- Brock

 

[tuxagb]

Hi Everyone,

I know this is most likely a basic question and you will roll your
eyes, but I am just starting out with Python (hobbyist) and I see many
tutorials on the web referring to the use of external modules.

However, when I locate them, they often come as a zipped folder with a
number of files.  How do I install them?  In addition, is there an
easy way to manage external modules? Some I see require additional
modules not included.

Where I am coming from is R, which has a point-and-click way of
getting packages not distributed with the version of the software, so
that is my point of reference.

Many thanks!

- Brock

If you are on Unix-like machine, unzip the archive in a some
directory, do cd into the new directory
and, from command line, do: python ./setup.py build (verify there is
the script setup.py), and then
python ./setup.py install (with root's permissions). On Win32 usually
there are an automatic installer.

Hi.

 

[John Nagle]

Hi Everyone,

I know this is most likely a basic question and you will roll your
eyes, but I am just starting out with Python (hobbyist) and I see many
tutorials on the web referring to the use of external modules.

However, when I locate them, they often come as a zipped folder with a
number of files. How do I install them? In addition, is there an
easy way to manage external modules? Some I see require additional
modules not included.

There are several different mechanism for handling this, and they all suck.
The whole Python module distribution scheme is so uncoordinated that there's
no uniform way to do this. It's not your fault.

There's "python ./setup.py". There are "eggs", which are supposed to
install very simply, but in practice usually fail to install properly,
producing obscure error messages. There are Windows installers.
There's no consistency.

I'm currently struggling with guiding users through installation
of a Python program I put on SourceForge. I have to explain to them how
to install three different external modules which don't have compatible
installation mechanisms.

I'm not going to put Python software out for public use again. I don't
have the time to deal with this crap.

John Nagle
Animats

 

[David Robinow]

  There are several different mechanism for handling this, and they all
suck.
The whole Python module distribution scheme is so uncoordinated that there's
no uniform way to do this.  It's not your fault.

  There's "python ./setup.py".  There are "eggs", which are supposed to
install very simply, but in practice usually fail to install properly,
producing obscure error messages.  There are Windows installers.
There's no consistency.

  I'm currently struggling with guiding users through installation
of a Python program I put on SourceForge. I have to explain to them how
to install three different external modules which don't have compatible
installation mechanisms.

  I'm not going to put Python software out for public use again.  I don't
have the time to deal with this crap.

                                       John Nagle
                                       Animats

Well, John, I do have the time to deal with this crap, since I'm
retired, or unemployed, or somewhere in between. I have no idea if you
have any useful software to share. But feel free to give your users my
email address ([email protected]) and I'll do my best to help.

 

[Mike Driscoll]

    There are several different mechanism for handling this, and they all suck.
The whole Python module distribution scheme is so uncoordinated that there's
no uniform way to do this.  It's not your fault.

    There's "python ./setup.py".  There are "eggs", which are supposed to
install very simply, but in practice usually fail to install properly,
producing obscure error messages.  There are Windows installers.
There's no consistency.

    I'm currently struggling with guiding users through installation
of a Python program I put on SourceForge. I have to explain to them how
to install three different external modules which don't have compatible
installation mechanisms.

    I'm not going to put Python software out for public use again.  I don't
have the time to deal with this crap.

                                        John Nagle
                                        Animats

I've found the eggs thing to work more often than not. But I've seen
it fail before too. I'm not sure where tuxagb got the idea that
there's usually a Windows installer. If I want something, it's usually
more like a 50-50 chance of there being an installer.

Anyway, hopefully the snakebite project will help with this a little.

Mike

 

[Gabriel Genellina]

I've found the eggs thing to work more often than not. But I've seen
it fail before too. I'm not sure where tuxagb got the idea that
there's usually a Windows installer. If I want something, it's usually
more like a 50-50 chance of there being an installer.

If the package includes some C extensions, typical Windows users won't be
able to compile them, so a binary distribution is a must.
Usually, it's enough to execute:
python setup.py bdist_wininst
and let distutils do its work.

 

[Jorgen Grahn]

....

There are several different mechanism for handling this, and they all suck.
The whole Python module distribution scheme is so uncoordinated that there's
no uniform way to do this. It's not your fault. ....
I'm not going to put Python software out for public use again. I don't
have the time to deal with this crap.

And which other language would have made it easier? Once you have odd
third-party dependencies, you (or your users, rather) will have
problems.

/orgen

 

[David Lyon]

People are working on this.... for example, I am working on a Package
Manager Project on sourceforge to solve exactly these problems.

Hopefully soon we will be ready to do a release.

In the spirit of open source, you would be welcome to join our project,
and do some testing. Report some bugs etc.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pythonpkgmgr/

Best Regards

David