Difference between pip's mysql-python and apt-get's python-mysqldb

Question

What is the difference between pip's mysql-python and apt-get's python-mysqldb?

$ pip search mysql-python
MySQL-python    - Python interface to MySQL

And:

$ apt-cache search python-mysqldb
python-mysqldb  - Python interface to MySQL

Answer 1

pip should get you the newest version of mysql-python which is available for the version of python that you're using from the pip repository.

Apt will give you the mysql-python version that is deemed "stable" by the debian, or ubuntu repository managers.

The functionality (or security) of the packages could be different based on version differences.

The benefit of using pip install mysql-python, is that you can be using virtualenv and have the specific version installed for that package or framework.