> That's my $0.02 on Python packaging and library dependencies. In my > opinion it's one of the few things that Java got right that Python > didn't.
Yeah, sure. Hunting down a subtle class loading bug because of e.g. different xml-api versions in your classpath in just a few hours is a thing java certainly "got right". Additionally, you refuse to "hack" around with sys.path, but the concept of CLASSPATH that you have to carefully compose in the first place appeals to you. There is no standard way of versioned library access anywhere in java - so while setuptools might not be perfect, they at least offer _something_. And the fact that machine code containing eggs are an annoyance to you is perfectly met by the need of java to have JNI dependant .so/.dll files being part of the LD_LIBRARY_PATH (and whatever is needed on windows, I presume PATH) Just because every nitwit in java is accustomed to meddle with classpaths and thus the application servers do something like adding WEB-INF/lib to the classpath (a thing that you refer to as hacking in python) does not mean its system is in any way superior to pythons. Diez -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list