On May 28, 2015 at 12:54:34 PM, Chris Angelico (ros...@gmail.com) wrote: > On Fri, May 29, 2015 at 2:28 AM, Chris Barker wrote: > > oops, sorry -- I see this was addressed in another thread. Though I guess I > > still don't see why "single file" is critical, over "single thing to > > install" -- like a OS-X app bundle that can just be dragged into the > > Applications folder. > > There's also "single thing to uninstall", which IMO is more important. > If I download a tiny program that's supposed to just do one tiny > thing, and it has to install itself into Program Files, Common Files, > Windows\System32, and Documents & Settings\my-user-name\Applications, > then I have to hope it has a proper uninstaller. If it's a single > executable that just does its stuff (or, failing that, a single zip > file that I extract to anywhere and run the program), I can expect > that deleting that file (or directory) will get rid of it all. Of > course, it's entirely possible that it's gone and left its droppings > all over the system, but that's a matter of trust - a legit program > won't lie about that. > > Is this a Windows-specific issue, or is it also intended for Linux and > Mac OS, where there'll already be a system Python (so a > single-file-executable would be used to be independent of the system > Python)? >
I think it’s an issue for all platforms, even when there is a system Python that can be used. Here’s why: * Even on Linux systems Python isn’t always a guaranteed thing to be installed, for instance Debian works just fine without any Python installed. * On OS X you have the system Python yes, but that is in an unknown state. It could have any number of changes made to it or things installed or what have you. * Even if you have Python installed already, is it the right one? What if it’s an ancient RHEL box that has 2.6 or (heaven forbid) 2.4? What if it’s a not ancient box that has Python 2.7 but you want to deploy your app in Python 3? * What if you have Python installed already, but it’s been patched by the place you got it from and now the behavior is different than what you expected? etc etc. --- Donald Stufft PGP: 7C6B 7C5D 5E2B 6356 A926 F04F 6E3C BCE9 3372 DCFA _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list Python-Dev@python.org https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev Unsubscribe: https://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com
