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<LI><A href="trivial-install.html#SECTION000110000000000000000">1.1 Best case: trivial installation</a>
<LI><A href="trivial-install.html#SECTION000120000000000000000">1.2 The new standard: Distutils</a>
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<H1><A NAME="SECTION000100000000000000000"></A>
<A NAME="intro"></A>
<BR>
1 Introduction
</H1>

<P>
Although Python's extensive standard library covers many programming
needs, there often comes a time when you need to add some new
functionality to your Python installation in the form of third-party
modules.  This might be necessary to support your own programming, or to
support an application that you want to use and that happens to be
written in Python.

<P>
In the past, there has been little support for adding third-party
modules to an existing Python installation.  With the introduction of
the Python Distribution Utilities (Distutils for short) in Python 2.0,
this changed.

<P>
This document is aimed primarily at the people who need to install
third-party Python modules: end-users and system administrators who just
need to get some Python application running, and existing Python
programmers who want to add some new goodies to their toolbox.  You
don't need to know Python to read this document; there will be some
brief forays into using Python's interactive mode to explore your
installation, but that's it.  If you're looking for information on how
to distribute your own Python modules so that others may use them, see
the <em class="citetitle"><a
 href="../dist/dist.html"
 title="Distributing Python Modules"
 >Distributing Python Modules</a></em> manual.

<P>

<H2><A NAME="SECTION000110000000000000000"></A>
<A NAME="trivial-install"></A>
<BR>
1.1 Best case: trivial installation
</H2>

<P>
In the best case, someone will have prepared a special version of the
module distribution you want to install that is targeted specifically at
your platform and is installed just like any other software on your
platform.  For example, the module developer might make an executable
installer available for Windows users, an RPM package for users of
RPM-based Linux systems (Red Hat, SuSE, Mandrake, and many others), a
Debian package for users of Debian-based Linux systems, and so forth.

<P>
In that case, you would download the installer appropriate to your
platform and do the obvious thing with it: run it if it's an executable
installer, <code>rpm -&#45;install</code> it if it's an RPM, etc.  You don't need
to run Python or a setup script, you don't need to compile
anything--you might not even need to read any instructions (although
it's always a good idea to do so anyways).

<P>
Of course, things will not always be that easy.  You might be interested
in a module distribution that doesn't have an easy-to-use installer for
your platform.  In that case, you'll have to start with the source
distribution released by the module's author/maintainer.  Installing
from a source distribution is not too hard, as long as the modules are
packaged in the standard way.  The bulk of this document is about
building and installing modules from standard source distributions.

<P>

<H2><A NAME="SECTION000120000000000000000"></A>
<A NAME="new-standard"></A>
<BR>
1.2 The new standard: Distutils
</H2>

<P>
If you download a module source distribution, you can tell pretty
quickly if it was packaged and distributed in the standard way, i.e.
using the Distutils.  First, the distribution's name and version number
will be featured prominently in the name of the downloaded archive, e.g.
<span class="file">foo-1.0.tar.gz</span> or <span class="file">widget-0.9.7.zip</span>.  Next, the archive
will unpack into a similarly-named directory: <span class="file">foo-1.0</span> or
<span class="file">widget-0.9.7</span>.  Additionally, the distribution will contain a
setup script <span class="file">setup.py</span>, and a file named <span class="file">README.txt</span> or possibly
just <span class="file">README</span>, which should explain that building and installing the
module distribution is a simple matter of running

<P>
<div class="verbatim"><pre>
python setup.py install
</pre></div>

<P>
If all these things are true, then you already know how to build and
install the modules you've just downloaded:  Run the command above.
Unless you need to install things in a non-standard way or customize the
build process, you don't really need this manual.  Or rather, the above
command is everything you need to get out of this manual.

<P>

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	20	<table align="center" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2">
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	55	<LI><A href="trivial-install.html#SECTION000110000000000000000">1.1 Best case: trivial installation</a>
	56	<LI><A href="trivial-install.html#SECTION000120000000000000000">1.2 The new standard: Distutils</a>
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	60	<HR>
	61
	62	<H1><A NAME="SECTION000100000000000000000"></A>
	63	<A NAME="intro"></A>
	64	<BR>
65	1 Introduction
66	</H1>
67
68	<P>
69	Although Python's extensive standard library covers many programming
70	needs, there often comes a time when you need to add some new
71	functionality to your Python installation in the form of third-party
72	modules. This might be necessary to support your own programming, or to
73	support an application that you want to use and that happens to be
74	written in Python.
75
76	<P>
77	In the past, there has been little support for adding third-party
78	modules to an existing Python installation. With the introduction of
79	the Python Distribution Utilities (Distutils for short) in Python 2.0,
80	this changed.
81
82	<P>
83	This document is aimed primarily at the people who need to install
84	third-party Python modules: end-users and system administrators who just
85	need to get some Python application running, and existing Python
86	programmers who want to add some new goodies to their toolbox. You
87	don't need to know Python to read this document; there will be some
88	brief forays into using Python's interactive mode to explore your
89	installation, but that's it. If you're looking for information on how
90	to distribute your own Python modules so that others may use them, see
91	the <em class="citetitle"><a
92	href="../dist/dist.html"
93	title="Distributing Python Modules"
94	>Distributing Python Modules</a></em> manual.
95
96	<P>
97
98	<H2><A NAME="SECTION000110000000000000000"></A>
99	<A NAME="trivial-install"></A>
100	<BR>
101	1.1 Best case: trivial installation
102	</H2>
103
104	<P>
105	In the best case, someone will have prepared a special version of the
106	module distribution you want to install that is targeted specifically at
107	your platform and is installed just like any other software on your
108	platform. For example, the module developer might make an executable
109	installer available for Windows users, an RPM package for users of
110	RPM-based Linux systems (Red Hat, SuSE, Mandrake, and many others), a
111	Debian package for users of Debian-based Linux systems, and so forth.
112
113	<P>
114	In that case, you would download the installer appropriate to your
115	platform and do the obvious thing with it: run it if it's an executable
116	installer, <code>rpm --install</code> it if it's an RPM, etc. You don't need
117	to run Python or a setup script, you don't need to compile
118	anything--you might not even need to read any instructions (although
119	it's always a good idea to do so anyways).
120
121	<P>
122	Of course, things will not always be that easy. You might be interested
123	in a module distribution that doesn't have an easy-to-use installer for
124	your platform. In that case, you'll have to start with the source
125	distribution released by the module's author/maintainer. Installing
126	from a source distribution is not too hard, as long as the modules are
127	packaged in the standard way. The bulk of this document is about
128	building and installing modules from standard source distributions.
129
130	<P>
131
132	<H2><A NAME="SECTION000120000000000000000"></A>
133	<A NAME="new-standard"></A>
134	<BR>
135	1.2 The new standard: Distutils
136	</H2>
137
138	<P>
139	If you download a module source distribution, you can tell pretty
140	quickly if it was packaged and distributed in the standard way, i.e.
141	using the Distutils. First, the distribution's name and version number
142	will be featured prominently in the name of the downloaded archive, e.g.
143	<span class="file">foo-1.0.tar.gz</span> or <span class="file">widget-0.9.7.zip</span>. Next, the archive
144	will unpack into a similarly-named directory: <span class="file">foo-1.0</span> or
145	<span class="file">widget-0.9.7</span>. Additionally, the distribution will contain a
146	setup script <span class="file">setup.py</span>, and a file named <span class="file">README.txt</span> or possibly
147	just <span class="file">README</span>, which should explain that building and installing the
148	module distribution is a simple matter of running
149
150	<P>
151	<div class="verbatim"><pre>
152	python setup.py install
153	</pre></div>
154
155	<P>
156	If all these things are true, then you already know how to build and
157	install the modules you've just downloaded: Run the command above.
158	Unless you need to install things in a non-standard way or customize the
159	build process, you don't really need this manual. Or rather, the above
160	command is everything you need to get out of this manual.
161
162	<P>
163
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