[Zope] Zope products install issue

[Jim Penny]

On Mon, Feb 19, 2001 at 01:29:55PM -0500, Chris McDonough wrote:
> Why?  Are there specific Linux configurations that this would work better
> under than directing someone to type "python w_pcgi.py" when they download
> the source version?

There is nothing wrong with the source package.  In fact, I prefer
it to my distro's version, even though I am working on a good
distribution (Debian), which has a quite good zope binary
package.
 
But, I see the zope.org binaries as being newbie oriented.

Because newbie types are inherently insecure and see
 "Oh, there is a binary on zope.org, the _official_ repository
of zope zen and all that is good.  I will download it and use it,
in preference to my crufty ditribution's version" (if said user
bothered to look in their distro).  

Worse, the verbiage with the source binary strongly suggests
it is for developers only,  with a real emphasis on people who
are developing zope internals.

The problem is that the zope.org binary in introducing, without warning, 
a second python tree; despite the fact that almost every distribution's
python is perfectly OK.  

I know from zpopyda exerience that people are having trouble with this.
Either compilation/installation scripts are detecting the wrong python
or they are detecting no python.

This is terribly confusing to the people who most need the help, the
real newbie, who is also the person most likely to trigger this problem.

I do not feel that zope.org is helping the intended audience with this
binary.  It does enable them to get started immediately, but as soon as
they install their first package that requires site-package support, 
they are much worse off than they would have been had they been told
that the binary is for emergency use rather than the preferred solution.

> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jim Penny" <jpenny@universal-fasteners.com>
> To: "Chris McDonough" <chrism@digicool.com>; <zope@zope.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 19, 2001 1:02 PM
> Subject: Re: [Zope] Zope products install issue
> 
> 
> > On Mon, Feb 19, 2001 at 09:04:40AM -0500, Chris McDonough wrote:
> > > Download the Zope source version and compile it.
> > >
> >
> > I think that this is something that is going to come up again and
> > again.  I wish zope.org would offer two Linux binaries, one that
> > has no python in it and one with python.  With the user being
> > directed to
> > 1)  try the pythonless binary,
> > 2)  try the source package, and if compilation does not work
> > 3)  try the python-included binary, with the warning that
> >     the site-packages will be moved.
> >
> >
>