State of Python Packaging: Buildout, Distribute, Distutils, EasyInstall, etc

Question

The last time I had to worry about installing Python packages was two years ago working with Enthought, NumPy and MayaVi2. That experience gave me lingering nightmares related to quirky behavior installing & updating Python packages in non-standard locations (in $HOME/usr/local2.6/, for example).

Anyway, my work is taking me back to installing various Python packages. The CheeseShop Tutorial mentions DistUtils and EasyInstall in addition to Buildout! I am having a hard time finding one place that compares these (and other) PyPi installation tools, so I am hoping to tap into the StackOverflow community: What are the strengths & weaknesses of each installation tool?

Answer 1

First of all, regardless of installation tool you decide on, start using virtualenv --no-site-packages! That way, python packages are not installed globally and you can easily get back to where you were in old as well as new projects.

Now, your comparison is a little bit apples-to-pears as the tools you list are not mutually exclusive. However, I can wholly recommend Buildout. It will install python packages as well as other stuff and lets you automate installation and deployment of (complex) projects.

Also, I recommend looking into Fabric as a means to automate administrative tasks.

Answer 2

Distribute is a new fork of setuptools (easy_install), which should also be considered. Even Guido recommends it.

Buildout is orthogonal to the packaging --- you can use buildout with distribute.