On Tue, May 16, 2017 at 8:50 AM, Pavol Lisy <pavol.l...@gmail.com> wrote: > On 5/15/17, Chris Angelico <ros...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Perhaps a future version of gcc will be implemented in Python. Would >> you then say that Python is beholden to no one? You would still need >> to have a C compiler installed in order to compile extension modules. >> It's too big to include with every single Python installation. So >> you'd have the same situation even then. > > Don't forget that 640 kB was too big too! ;) > > (and compiler as service is also possibility)
Compiler As A Service is actually a very real possibility, and one that's been explored at times. But it's more of a packaging question than anything else; it's a means of simplifying the work of producing those wheel files. Once the wheels are built, anyone can already install them without a compiler (of course, you have to trust the wheel builder, since you're now installing a binary blob on your computer). There's not a lot of point having end users use CaaS; if you're making custom software or an unusual system, it's easier to get your own compiler than to match a host somewhere, and if you're using something completely standard, there's no need to reinvent - or rebuild - the wheel. ChrisA -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list