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Having to piece together a Python installation can be an annoyance for a beginner. I always offer to help them set things up the first time. Since most of my wo

Having to piece together a Python installation can be an annoyance for a beginner. I always offer to help them set things up the first time. Since most of my workplace is on Windows, it's easy to have people install WinPython. This is especially true if they've already tried setting things up, and have made a mess of it. Because WinPython is self contained, it can work on a computer that already has a working or non-working Python installation.

donkeybeer 4y ago
What do you mean by piecing together a python install? Most linux should have one pre-installed or easily available via the package manager. After that venvs and pip seem to be generally enough for most tasks.
- ghshephard 4y ago
  I've been using Python for about 6 years, my last company wrote it's core commercial product exclusively in python. I've never used venvs, but I've yet to run into a situation where virtualenv (maybe with virtualwrappers as sugar), and pip + requirements.txt haven't been able to handle even fairly complex install situations.
- analog31 4y ago
  My workplace is a Windows shop. I'm multi platform, but by and large the folks using Linux don't need my help. ;-) So when I help people its almost always on Windows.
- heavyset_go 4y ago
  Packaging Python applications that are outside of containerized apps can be a headache. You can't assume that the system's Python suits your needs, or even that Python versions in package repositories will, either. A big pain point still remains when it comes to packaging and distribution. It's not insurmountable, but if you're used to compiling and/or cross-compiling and shipping binaries, shipping Python apps can be headache inducing. The headaches increase when you're working with Windows or macOS, or using bleeding edge Python versions. That said, for 99% of Python apps out there, the default tooling should be absolutely fine for packaging and distribution, as should 3rd party solutions like PyInstaller or Nuitka.
  - donkeybeer 4y ago
    Oh of course, packaging python apps for final distribution is a different matter. I was assuming they were talking about the process of setting up a dev environment not deployment.
    - heavyset_go 4y ago
      Oh yeah, 99.999% that's the case for dev environments. The only issue I've seen is that some versions of Linux distros have Python shipping with Tk and cryptography support in separate packages to be installed from repositories, where they might be installed by default on other distros, or are just included with the Python package.

donkeybeer 4y ago

What do you mean by piecing together a python install? Most linux should have one pre-installed or easily available via the package manager. After that venvs and pip seem to be generally enough for most tasks.

ghshephard 4y ago
I've been using Python for about 6 years, my last company wrote it's core commercial product exclusively in python. I've never used venvs, but I've yet to run into a situation where virtualenv (maybe with virtualwrappers as sugar), and pip + requirements.txt haven't been able to handle even fairly complex install situations.
analog31 4y ago
My workplace is a Windows shop. I'm multi platform, but by and large the folks using Linux don't need my help. ;-) So when I help people its almost always on Windows.
heavyset_go 4y ago
Packaging Python applications that are outside of containerized apps can be a headache. You can't assume that the system's Python suits your needs, or even that Python versions in package repositories will, either. A big pain point still remains when it comes to packaging and distribution. It's not insurmountable, but if you're used to compiling and/or cross-compiling and shipping binaries, shipping Python apps can be headache inducing. The headaches increase when you're working with Windows or macOS, or using bleeding edge Python versions. That said, for 99% of Python apps out there, the default tooling should be absolutely fine for packaging and distribution, as should 3rd party solutions like PyInstaller or Nuitka.
- donkeybeer 4y ago
  Oh of course, packaging python apps for final distribution is a different matter. I was assuming they were talking about the process of setting up a dev environment not deployment.
  - heavyset_go 4y ago
    Oh yeah, 99.999% that's the case for dev environments. The only issue I've seen is that some versions of Linux distros have Python shipping with Tk and cryptography support in separate packages to be installed from repositories, where they might be installed by default on other distros, or are just included with the Python package.