Re: Using python + pygtk in Desktop modules

[Sean Middleditch <elanthis awesomeplay com>]

On Tue, 2004-09-28 at 23:44 +0200, Murray Cumming wrote:
> I think you're saying that 2.3.2 might break apps that previously used
> 2.3.1. Even if it's happened by accident in the past, I'd be very
> surprised if this is policy.

No.  I'm saying 2.3 might break apps that ran in 2.2.

> You don't seem to be justifying that statement. But again, the Bindings
> make just as much of a fuss about API and ABI stability as the Platform.
> It's not a dumping ground for stuff that breaks applications. I've put
> the Bindings maintainers through interrogations such as this one to make
> sure of that.

Alright.  My fault for confusing the Bindings/Platform release
priorities sorry.

Regarding ABI stability... given that we maintain ABI stability, and
that Python breaks that, as third-party developers cannot target GNOME
but must target a specific OS/release, does that not break the entire
goal of ABI stability?  Again, if you expect everyone to repackage
everything for every OS/release, why do you bother with ABI stability?
It's 100% worthless if you're saying users are forced to recompile and
repackage every app for every OS/release.

The stable ABI is maintained for a reason.  For the same reason that,
for example, the LSB exists and forces a stable ABI between various
Linux distributions.

That reason is to allow third-party apps to be written, compiled, and
packaged just once, and let them install and run everywhere.  That is
entirely the point of ABI stability.

> 
> > For apps included in the GNOME Desktop Release, this is workable.  The
> > packages can detect which version of Python is currently installed and
> > make any changes necessary for the package to work.
> 
> I don't like that solution, because it requires all packages to be
> updated, and it prevents 2 apps using 2 versions of python from
> coexisting.

It's the exact solution you mentioned above.  I think I phrased it a
little poorly, though - my apologies.

> 
> [snip]
> > Moving an app from an older Python release to a newer release can
> > *potentially* have the same sorts of problems you'd see trying to
> > recompile a C app as C++.  Often times it'll Just Work(tm).  For some
> > particular cases, it won't.
> 
> Again, you need to give a specific example, and not of something that we
> would not be stupid enough to do.

Python release notes...

Here's a list of language-level incompatibilities for 2.1 to 2.2.
http://www.sourcekeg.co.uk/www.python.org/2.2.3/bugs.html

> 
-- 
Sean Middleditch <elanthis awesomeplay com>
AwesomePlay Productions, Inc.