On 9/25/06, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Sep 25, 2006, at 5:08 PM, Russell E. Owen wrote: > > <snip> > > > > > I see what you mean about different installations. I think the > > following > > might work better: > > - Always modify _tkinter.so to point to Tcl/Tk 8.4 in > > /Library/Frameworks. > > This will fall back to the built in /System/Library/Frameworks if the > > user has not installed an 8.4 of their own. > > > > It avoids a few of the issues you bring up and is simpler and more > > robust than what I originally suggested. Advantages: > > - All installations would be the same. > > - If the user installs a new Tcl/Tk after installing Python, it > > would be > > used (unless it's 8.5, which would not be safe to try with Python). > > > > It still does not address your concern than a user might accidentally > > have a Tcl/Tk that they don't want to use. I'd personally be > > happier if > > users could easily upgrade their Tcl/Tk (since the installed one > > is so > > bad), so I see this as more of an advantage than a disadvantage. Users > > aren't going to typically install Tcl/Tk unless they want to use > > it, I > > think. Still...I'm sure you've seen more requests for help than I have > > over the years. > > > > I'm not keen on including a Tcl/Tk for several reasons: > > - Which version would you use? Even 8.4.11 has some important known > > bugs, and 8.4.13 has different ones (at least one of which is very > > nasty > > for my application, so I stick with 8.4.11 for now). > > - If a user wanted to upgrade their Tcl/Tk, what would they do? The > > answer is easy if we use the version of 8.4 found in /Library/ > > Framework > > (if any). > > - It can be tricky to add needed additions (my app uses the > > "snack" sound library, for example). A standard Tcl/Tk makes this much > > easier (and in fact ActiveState Tcl/Tk already includes all additions > > most folks would want). > > - There is no universal Tcl/Tk yet (though one is planned). I > > personally > > don't want to try to build one. > > > > So my personal suggestion is that we modify _tkinter.so using > > Bob Ippolito's recipe unchanged (no fancy script that hunts for an > > installed Tcl/Tk). It will be completely compatible with the built in > > Tcl/Tk but gives any real users of Tcl/Tk (anyone who isn't just > > writing > > "hello world") a trivial way to get a decent version. > > > > -- Russell > > > I'm very interested in this and would be happy to help with testing. > I teach Python at the college level using John Zelle's Python book > (it uses Tk for simple GUI programs). Most of the programs run fine, > but some of the more complex ones crash intermittently within Tk. The > same program seems to run fine on Windows using 2.4.3 although it > does crash intermittently on CentOS 4.3 within Tk. > > In the meantime, are you saying the simplest solution for my students > with Macs is to use ActiveState (some have G4 laptops and some have > Intel based laptops)? > > I have a G5 running 10.3.9 at work (IT isn't planning to upgrade yet) > and a G5 running 10.4.x at home so I'll be happy to test on both of > those.
Using ActiveState doesn't fix the problem alone, you also have to install a newer Tk. You might as well use the python.org distro and install a replacement _tkinter.so while you install a new Tk. Only takes a few minutes to build an installer package. You only have to do it once, and you could wrap it up in a mpkg that contains both the new Tk and the replacement _tkinter.so. -bob _______________________________________________ Pythonmac-SIG maillist - Pythonmac-SIG@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pythonmac-sig
