It basically contains /sw/bin/python which is a symlink to the real executable /sw/bin/pytonx.y. I cannot speak for Jeff, but this arrangement has so far allowed to have several versions of python to be installed at the same time without conflicts. This is one solution of the old (unsolvable!) problem of how to handle version-dependent parts of a package that have no version number in their name.
This is what update-alternatives is for.
You should be able to implement it cleanly with the alternatives system without needing to have a wrapper package, if all it's doing is making the symlink...
-- Benjamin Reed a.k.a. Ranger Rick -- http://ranger.befunk.com/ gpg: 6401 D02A A35F 55E9 D7DD 71C5 52EF A366 D3F6 65FE xar!
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