Re: Using python + pygtk in Desktop modules (was Re: Revisitingthe Gnome Bindings)

[Sriram Ramkrishna <sri aracnet com>]

On Tue, Sep 28, 2004 at 10:32:52AM -0400, Sean Middleditch wrote:
> Say though that you have a third-party app written for pygtk which
> includes its own libraries that are installed solely for python 2.3.
> When python 2.4 comes along, that app *must* continue using 2.3.  Which
> means the app must be hard coded to only invoke the python 2.3 binary.
> Which is distribution specific.  Which forces app authors to release
> updated packages for their apps for newer distributions.  Which
> effectively kills any purpose of having ABI stability.  And, finally,
> which forces the management, selection, installation, and upgrading of
> installed packages onto the user.

I don't see any difference between this scenario and a 3rd party
writing for different flavors of Windows.  While not quite similar itis a 
situation where a 3rd party app has multiple targets.  I think people are
going to be more forgiving given the situation we have with windows.

> You can't just click, install, and have the thing work 5+ years down the
> road if you ever need to upgrade your OS.  Which is often necessary, for
> various reasons, including hardware upgrades, security patches, and so
> on.

Well, doesn't Linux break capabitibility?  I thought they don't always
guarantee the same interface, I can't remember now..  Something I 
remember from Greg H's blog entry..

This seems like value add stuff that a vendor like RH or Novell
would be able to provide.  

sri