[PyQt] Detecting which Python version is used by SIP and PyQt

[Baz Walter]

On 23/10/10 20:04, Hans-Peter Jansen wrote:
> On Saturday 23 October 2010, 19:28:34 Baz Walter wrote:
>> On 23/10/10 18:07, Phil Thompson wrote:
>>> On Sat, 23 Oct 2010 17:39:28 +0100, Baz Walter<bazwal at ftml.net>
> wrote:
>>>> On 23/10/10 12:25, Hans-Peter Jansen wrote:
>>>>> On Saturday 23 October 2010, 02:54:40 Xavion wrote:
>>>>>> Doing so will save me from having to hard-code something like
>>>>>> "#!/usr/bin/env python2" into the main executable file, only to
>>>>>> be disappointed after finding out that some Linux distributions
>>>>>> have already built PyQt on Python v3.
>>>>>
>>>>> For a transition phase of a couple of years, I would do it the
>>>>> other way around. Your distribution should have created a python3
>>>>> symlink, hence, if you code for python3, use #!/usr/bin/env
>>>>> python3, given it isn't compatible with python<    3, otherwise
>>>>> use #!/usr/bin/env python.
>>>>
>>>> not sure i understand you here. the current situation on arch is:
>>>>
>>>>        python ->   python3.1
>>>
>>> That is unbelievably dumb.
>>
>> that was exactly my initial reaction. however, given arch's
>> philosophy, it does make sense.
>
> No idea, how this move could be labeled philosophy, since it is going to
> break nearly every 3rd party python software out there. In the end it
> only contributes to arch users isolation as it will always take arch
> specific patches to get legacy code working. No sane distribution will
> follow this pattern.

that's an extreme over-reaction - but if you are unsure how things work 
on arch, it is perhaps understandable.

let me try to shed a little light on this.

arch is a rolling-release distro. updates are very frequent and 
generally tend include the very latest, "bleeding-edge" versions.

when arch made the transition to python3, about 600 python-related 
packages were updated in the process. these were all pre-complied binary 
packages that are officially supported by the arch development team.

in addition to the repositories of supported packages, arch has an 
unofficial repostitory maintained by the community. this consists of 
build scripts which use arch's automated build system to install 
unsupported, third-party software. the build system will resolve all 
dependencies (using the same package management tools as the supported 
packages), and then download, build and install the software from source 
using the build scripts. this means that all installed software on the 
system is handled by a single package management system. most arch users 
will therefore actively avoid any do-it-yourself installation of 
third-party software. if there is no unofficial package currently 
available, they will either create it themselves, or make a request for one.

i hope this makes it obvious that any fears about breaking "nearly every 
3rd party python software out there" are completely unfounded. when arch 
users made the update which included the transition to python3 a few 
days ago, the only things that broke were a handful of unofficial 
packages and some scripts that users created themselves.

> I'm really sorry to have answered to this thread without understanding
> the full scope, and therefore even contributed to the confusion.
>
> As a consequence, I'm going to ignore each and every arch linux python
> compatibility issue, that may arise here.

such remarks are totally uncalled for (and, with respect, unworthy of you).

arch has been around for quite a while now and has a growing community 
of very loyal users. it may do some things very differently, but at the 
end of the day, it's just another linux distro.