[Zope3-dev] Fwd: Preferring final releases

[Jim Fulton]

There's a question below that I want opinions on, so I'm forwarding  
this note here that I sent to the distutils-sig.  I'd prefer answers  
there, but I'll take them here.

Specifically: Should I make it the default policy for buildout to  
prefer final releases?  I think this is the right thing to do in the  
long run, however, it will cause buildouts that implicitly use non- 
final eggs to be downgraded.  This will cause some pain until people  
make adjustments.

Thoughts?

Jim

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Jim Fulton <jim at zope.com>
> Date: July 4, 2007 8:29:03 AM EDT
> To: Distutils-Sig at python.org
> Subject: Preferring final releases
>
> Currently, when looking for a new release, easy_install and  
> buildout look for the newest distributions that satisfy a  
> requirement.  They will, for example, prefer a newer development  
> release or preliminary release (dev, alpha, beta, or rc) over a  
> final release.  I don't think this is a good default policy.
>
> In buildout, I'm going to add an option, prefer-final, to control  
> this. If this option is true, then buildout will prefer final  
> distributions over non-final distributions.  It will choose the  
> latest final version that meets a requirement if there is one.   
> Maybe buildout should make this the default.  (Thoughts?)  In any  
> case, since buildout lets people create their own defaults for  
> buildout options, people will be able to choose any default they  
> wish.  With this option enabled, you'll be able to get a non-final  
> distribution by explicitly requiring it.
>
> I think easy_install and setuptools should provide a similar option  
> and provide a way (presumably through setup.cfg) to make it the  
> default.  For backward compatibility reasons, it may not be  
> possible to make this the default policy for setuptools, although,  
> arguably, it is a better default.
>
> Jim
>
> Note that for buildout, what I said above isn't accurate. :)   
> Buildout prefers develop distributions over non-develop  
> distributions.  It will currently choose a develop distribution  
> that meets a requirement, if there is one.  If prefer-final is  
> enabled, then buildout will choose the latest develop distribution  
> that satisfies the requirement, if there is one, otherwise, it will  
> pick the latest final distribution that meets a requirement, if  
> there is one, otherwise, it will pick the latest distribution that  
> meets a requirement.
>
> --
> Jim Fulton			mailto:jim at zope.com		Python Powered!
> CTO 				(540) 361-1714			http://www.python.org
> Zope Corporation	http://www.zope.com		http://www.zope.org
>
>
>

--
Jim Fulton			mailto:jim at zope.com		Python Powered!
CTO 				(540) 361-1714			http://www.python.org
Zope Corporation	http://www.zope.com		http://www.zope.org