"akbar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I am creating not-so-important opensource application written in python > for Linux. I have two files python source in src directory, named > blabla1.py and blabla2.py. There are byte compiled files too, named > blabla1.pyc and blabla2.pyc. Should I distribute these files (pyc > files) to users? If I don't distribute them, and user installed my > application into /usr (not writable by normal user) then run it as > normal user, off course, the python cannot make byte-compiled version. > Will my program runs slower in user computer then in my computer > because I have byte compiled version?
Short answer: use distutils or build a python egg. These will automate most of the distribution process. Longer answer: distutils (standard in Python) will build you a variety of installation packages such as zip, tar, rpm, or windows .exe (even from linux). The installation step will do all necessary compiling from .py to .pyc (and also builds extension modules although that can be problematic for a windows distribution where the correct compiler almost certainly isn't available). setuptools (http://cheeseshop.python.org/pypi/setuptools) is a collection of enhancements to distutils which let you build .egg files. Once you start using egg files you can include dependencies between package versions and if your product requires a bunch of other packages the installation step will download and install the appropriate versions. See http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall for instructions on installing packages built in this way, but in short, the user has to run ez_setup.py from the EasyInstall page, and then a command like: easy_install http://example.com/path/to/MyPackage-1.2.3.tgz would download and install your package and all the other products it depends on. If at a later stage they want to upgrade to a more recent version then all they need to do is to run: easy_install --upgrade MyPackage Installed eggs usually exist in a single file (importable zip) which makes uninstalling especially easy: just one file to delete. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
