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Re: [Ping Python maintainer]: enhancement request


Christopher Faylor wrote:
On Tue, May 01, 2007 at 03:15:52PM +0100, Dave Korn wrote:
On 01 May 2007 14:59, Charles Wilson wrote:
Because python is a command interpreter,

Similarly, sh.exe
I think these are two very strong arguments in favour.

python.exe isn't anything like the interactive shell that people use on a day to day basis and simply stating that it is doesn't mean that it is.

Just to clarify, when I say command interpreter I wasn't necessarily implying interactive -- just as nobody (I hope) attempts to use /bin/sh in its pure, restricted posix mode, as their native interactive shell. [side note: IPython, an interactive shell-like python environment -- is really cool]. I just meant that python /interprets/ /commands/ (possibly -- usually -- in a script).


For ActivePython, you'll see win32 shortcuts with target:

<path-to-active>/python.exe <some script>

If cygwin's 'python' is a copy of version x.y, then cygwin users can do the same: have win32 shortcuts with target:

<path-to-cygwin>/python.exe <some script>

(Now, ActivePython sometimes cheats: it associates .py with itself, and often win32 pythoners will just give their scripts a name with that extension. And obviously, windows doesn't, itself, recognize shbang lines)

Granted, there are 57 other, different solutions that don't require cygwin's 'python' to be a copy, like invoke version x.y directly from the shortcut:

<path-to-cygwin>/python2.5 <some script>

or cgf's use-bash-first:

<path-to-cygwin>/bash.exe python <some script>

or use-bash-first and rely on shbang:
<path-to-cygwin>/bash.exe <some script with #!/bin/python>


But if cygwin does the copy thing, we'd be following the 'principle of least surprise' for ActivePython folks (AP is, after all, the other major python implementation on win32; IronPython is coming along nicely, tho).



'invoke from native win32' means 'from a shortcut OR cmd window' not just 'from a cmd window'


--
Chuck

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