> IIUC, the test suite is about having the Python installer certified as "OEM > Ready", which means a few special things - including, IIUC, the "right" to > be installed in a new PC. My broader point is that I would advise against > any application vendor reusing the standard Python installer for their > application, as it exposes the ability for the user to remove it, thereby > breaking the application.
Right, and I agree with it. However, that is HP's choice, and while there is a theoretical possibility that users break their systems, in practice, most users are too scared to actually attempt such breakage. However, "OEM ready" sounds like a good goal to achieve. Python has been shipping as part of the operating system on Linux for many years now, and ships with Solaris and OSX for several years now. I see nothing wrong with Python being preinstalled on PCs. If this approach would become standard practice, py2exe and friends would become much simpler (and I do know that I'm dreaming now). > Obviously I'm wrong here though - HP obviously *is* wanting to install it as > is, and doesn't mind that the user could accidently break their scripts. > I'm very surprised by that, but I have to accept it :) On the other hand, > I'd really like to ensure they understand the risks and for me to understand > why those risks are acceptable... See above. I think the risk is theoretical. In any case, applications *can* make sure pythonxy.dll survives uninstallation (by increasing its refcount), although this probably doesn't help much if the standard library is gone. > Agreed. I'm just surprised app authors are willing to take the risk this > implies. I still occasionally get email from people (presumably via my > email addy which used to be in Pythonwin) saying "I've got this Python thing > installed on my PC - is it a virus? Can I remove it?". I tend to say "it’s > a programming language - if you don't know you need it, you probably don't, > so sure, uninstall it". We get these messages on python-help also. We even have http://www.python.org/doc/faq/installed/ so it *is* a frequently-asked question. I think that is a good thing. Regards, Martin _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list Python-Dev@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com
