Re: Psycopg2 Windows packaging

Hi, and thanks for the in-depth answer! I did not realize the package was
compiled and functional under Win :)

In which way is it easiest to contact Jason and is there an IRC channel or
something alike besides this mailing list for this discussion?

I'd be interested in helping out with the Windows distribution track if
there is need and space for new contributors on that front, but would like
to discuss with the current Windows packager and I do not have his contact
information.

I have decent experience in Python packaging on Linux and think that the
Windows DLL hell is a thing that could be documented and sorted out in
itself. In addition to that, I saw that AppVeyor seems to support OSS
projects and Windows builds for free:

https://www.appveyor.com/pricing/

I am not aware of the current build configuration so forgive me if I'm
jumping ahead myself in this.

BR,
Aleksi

On 8 November 2016 at 15:34, Daniele Varrazzo <daniele(dot)varrazzo(at)gmail(dot)com>
wrote:

> On Tue, Nov 8, 2016 at 12:45 PM, Aleksi Häkli <aleksi(dot)hakli(at)vincit(dot)com>
> wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I was wondering about the psycopg2 Windows package. Is there any
> particular
> > reason the package is not distributed for Windows as a precompiled binary
> > through pip? I always install the precompiled executables by Stickpeople
> or
> > the precompiled wheels by Gohlke, and have never had the actual need to
> > install the package on any Windows platform from source (since it is so
> > tedious).
>
> It is, relatively recently.
>
> https://pypi.python.org/pypi/psycopg2
>
> The why is: the original author (Federico) is not a Windows user. I
> was when I joined the project: I actually started contributing to
> psycopg2 with patches to compile with mingw, but Jason (correct me if
> I'm wrong) compiles libpq, psycopg, and other required libraries using
> the same MS compiler for the target Python version, guaranteeing I
> think to avoid to open the door of DLhell. My expertise in that field
> stops at Windows 2000.
>
> > Would it not be easier for everybody to distribute the package via PyPI
> as a
> > pip installable pre compiled signed binary instead of the current source
> > format which mostly makes the package uninstallable on the platform?
> >
> > I have ran into the installation issue about 5 years in row, developing
> with
> > both Windows and Linux, and write my own scripts to avert the issue, but
> I
> > think it causes unnecessary headaches for many junior developers. All
> senior
> > developers can probably compile the library themselves if need be.
>
> I haven't used Windows in the last 10 years, and I don't feel the urge
> to start doing it again. This is a free software project, made by
> volunteers with limited spare time in their hands and absolutely zero
> funding. Nobody has ever stepped ahead more than Jason has to support
> a platform he cares about, and while I make an effort to avoid
> breaking Windows build, if he wasn't around I wouldn't personally
> care. You are very welcome to do some work yourself to support the
> library the way you want, or to finance the development of the feature
> you care about. If you don't, you get what you pay for, which is what
> who pays with time or money needs.
>
> -- Daniele
>

--
Aleksi Häkli
+358 400 357 013
aleksi(dot)hakli(at)vincit(dot)com