On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 1:48 AM, J. Stark <[email protected]> wrote:

On this topic, I would be interested to hear people's advice on using the system provided Python v an independent install. In 25 years of using Macs I have learned through several painful lessons that its wise to customize the system as little as possible: this minimizes both conflicts and reduces problems when doing system upgrades. I have therefore always used the default Python provided by OSX, so far with no obvious disadvantages for the types of scripts I use (primarily home written SciPy scientific code). However, I note that many people run either the pythomac.org distribution, or the ActiveState. What are the advantages to this?

By installing a separate Python, you are actually customizing the system *less* than if you used the system Python and installed a bunch of extra packages. Parts of Apple's software uses the system Python. If you upgrade packages inside there (like numpy!) you might run into problems. -- Robert Kern "I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth." -- Umberto Eco