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Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch

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On Feb 16, 2016, at 11:05 AM, Paul Wise wrote:

>Side-note: does anyone know why Python puts packages in "dist-packages",
>"site-packages" etc directories instead of just "packages" directories?

I don't remember exactly why we called it 'site-packages', but I believe it
was an evolution from the earlier ni.py module, which was where dotted module
paths first showed up in Python.

According to the HISTORY file, site-packages showed up sometime between 1.5a3
and 1.5a4, which IIRC would have been around 2001, so after Pythonlabs split
from CNRI.  If you want to read a blast from the past, here's Guido's original
essay on built-in package support added in Python 1.5, again derived from the
optional ni.py in earlier versions.

https://www.python.org/doc/essays/packages/

dist-packages was a later Debian compromise so as not to break from-source
builds installed in /usr/local with the default `make install` target.  I
think that was probably around the time I joined Canonical but wasn't working
on the Foundations team yet.  I do remember Doko and I talking about it, and
it seemed like 'dist-' was a good parallel to 'site-' (i.e. a place for the
distribution to put things).

Cheers,
-Barry

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Thread

Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Scott Kitterman <debian@kitterman.com> - 2016-01-21 16:50 +0100
  Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Barry Warsaw <barry@debian.org> - 2016-01-23 00:00 +0100
    Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Scott Kitterman <debian@kitterman.com> - 2016-01-23 09:40 +0100
      Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Barry Warsaw <barry@debian.org> - 2016-01-24 03:00 +0100
        Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Scott Kitterman <debian@kitterman.com> - 2016-01-24 04:10 +0100
          Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-01-24 06:40 +0100
            Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Scott Kitterman <debian@kitterman.com> - 2016-01-24 07:10 +0100
            Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Barry Warsaw <barry@debian.org> - 2016-01-24 19:10 +0100
            Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-01-26 07:00 +0100
            Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Dmitry Shachnev <mitya57@debian.org> - 2016-01-26 18:00 +0100
              Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-01-27 04:40 +0100
                Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Scott Kitterman <debian@kitterman.com> - 2016-01-27 05:20 +0100
                Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-01-27 10:50 +0100
            Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Scott Kitterman <debian@kitterman.com> - 2016-01-29 23:30 +0100
              Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-01-30 00:10 +0100
    Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Paul Wise <pabs@debian.org> - 2016-02-16 01:10 +0100
      Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Barry Warsaw <barry@debian.org> - 2016-02-16 01:50 +0100
        Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Barry Warsaw <barry@debian.org> - 2016-02-16 02:00 +0100
        Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Paul Wise <pabs@debian.org> - 2016-02-16 02:00 +0100
          Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Barry Warsaw <barry@debian.org> - 2016-02-16 02:20 +0100
  Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-01-24 06:50 +0100
    Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-01-24 07:00 +0100
      Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Scott Kitterman <debian@kitterman.com> - 2016-01-24 07:20 +0100
        Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-01-25 06:00 +0100
          Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Scott Kitterman <debian@kitterman.com> - 2016-01-25 06:30 +0100
    Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Scott Kitterman <debian@kitterman.com> - 2016-01-24 07:10 +0100
  Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Scott Kitterman <debian@kitterman.com> - 2016-02-15 23:30 +0100
    Re: Python Policy: Things to consider for Stretch Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-02-16 03:50 +0100

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