Building a MacPython distribution ================================= The ``build-install.py`` script creates MacPython distributions, including sleepycat db4, sqlite3 and readline support. It builds a complete framework-based Python out-of-tree, installs it in a funny place with $DESTROOT, massages that installation to remove .pyc files and such, creates an Installer package from the installation plus other files in ``resources`` and ``scripts`` and placed that on a ``.dmg`` disk image. Prerequisites ------------- * A MacOS X 10.4 (or later) * XCode 2.2 (or later), with the universal SDK * No Fink (in ``/sw``) or DarwinPorts (in ``/opt/local``), those could interfere with the build. * The documentation for the release must be available on python.org because it is included in the installer. The Recipe ---------- Here are the steps you need to follow to build a MacPython installer: * Run ``./build-installer.py``. Optionally you can pass a number of arguments to specify locations of various files. Please see the top of ``build-installer.py`` for its usage. Running this script takes some time, I will not only build Python itself but also some 3th-party libraries that are needed for extensions. * When done the script will tell you where the DMG image is (by default somewhere in ``/tmp/_py``). Building a 4-way universal installer .................................... It is also possible to build a 4-way universal installer that runs on OSX Leopard or later:: $ ./build-installer.py --dep-target=10.5 --universal-archs=all --sdk=/ This requires that the deployment target is 10.5 (or later), and hence also that your building on at least OSX 10.5. Testing ------- The resulting binaries should work on MacOSX 10.3.9 or later. I usually run the installer on a 10.3.9, a 10.4.x PPC and a 10.4.x Intel system and then run the testsuite to make sure. Announcements ------------- (This is mostly of historic interest) When all is done, announcements can be posted to at least the following places: - pythonmac-sig@python.org - python-dev@python.org - python-announce@python.org - archivist@info-mac.org - adcnews@apple.com - news@macnn.com - http://www.macupdate.com - http://guide.apple.com/usindex.lasso - http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/submit - http://www.versiontracker.com/ (userid Jack.Jansen@oratrix.com) - http://www.macshareware.net (userid jackjansen) Also, check out Stephan Deibels http://pythonology.org/market contact list