How to use "checkinstall" with Python packages that use "setuptools"

Question

On Ubuntu/Debian I use checkinstall package when installing packages from source

sudo checkinstall make install

or

sudo checkinstall python setup.py install

My problem is that Python packages that use setuptools (that modify easy-install.pth file) can't be installed correctly, as checkinstall asks to overwrite easy-install.pth for every new Python package that uses it.

I know I can use pip install <package> but dependencies coordinated by Debian packaging system would not "see" this package if not processed at least with checkinstall in lack of my better knowledge.

I hope my terminology is correct and I would like to know if this problem can be somehow resolved, asking myself:

• can checkinstall somehow work with Python package that uses setuptools?, or
• can Python package that uses setuptools be installed differently (like avoiding write to easy-install.pth with some switch to python setup.py install command or similar?

Answer 1

You can use this:

checkinstall --exclude /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/easy-install.pth