I just started out into the realm of Python coming from Java, and came across the necessity to install wxWindows/wxPython (under Linux 2.4, GTK2) in order to be able to run the Boa IDE. What an ordeal.
I downloaded the 15 Meg, and tried to do the configure/make stuff for wxWindows. After running through several problems that I was able to workaround/fix (OpenGL headers/libraries not found, sound libs not found although installed), I finally ran into one that occorred during some "install_headers" step with a strange script error which I was not able to make sense of. However, the build seemed to have gone through, so I decided to give wxPython a try.
I did the python buld and install, and then tried to run Boa. The first thing was an error stating that some WX_SP_SASH constant used in a preference script file was undefined. I removed the var from the file in question, and tried again. What I saw now was some error messages from GTK, stating that some initalization was missing, and finally a division by zero error from python code while computing some screen size.
It seems I have just wasted several hours to come to the conclusion that this stuff - if it runs under Linux at all - is only for die-hard hackers that dont mind fixing configure files or python source code before anything goes. Am I alone with this perception?
BTW, This is about the 3rd time that I have had to go through a compile/build/install cycle for some required extension. Quite a difference as opposed to dropping a *.jar file into the classpath of my Java app.
I just started out into the realm of Python coming from Java, and came across the necessity to install wxWindows/wxPython (under Linux 2.4, GTK2) in order to be able to run the Boa IDE. What an ordeal.
I downloaded the 15 Meg, and tried to do the configure/make stuff for wxWindows. After running through several problems that I was able to workaround/fix (OpenGL headers/libraries not found, sound libs not found although installed), I finally ran into one that occorred during some "install_headers" step with a strange script error which I was not able to make sense of. However, the build seemed to have gone through, so I decided to give wxPython a try.
I did the python buld and install, and then tried to run Boa. The first thing was an error stating that some WX_SP_SASH constant used in a preference script file was undefined. I removed the var from the file in question, and tried again. What I saw now was some error messages from GTK, stating that some initalization was missing, and finally a division by zero error from python code while computing some screen size.
You're probably using the newest wxPython sources, but AFAIK Boa hasn't
been updated for 2.5.x yet. Try building the 2.4.2.4 sources if you
need Boa. For more details ask on the Boa mail list.
It seems I have just wasted several hours to come to the conclusion that this stuff - if it runs under Linux at all - is only for die-hard hackers that dont mind fixing configure files or python source code before anything goes. Am I alone with this perception?
Probably not, but it is a minority.
BTW, This is about the 3rd time that I have had to go through a compile/build/install cycle for some required extension. Quite a difference as opposed to dropping a *.jar file into the classpath of my Java app.
Depending on your Linux distro there may already be binary packages
available for most of the popular Python extensions, including wxPython.
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Robin Dunn
Software Craftsman http://wxPython.org Java give you jitters? Relax with wxPython!
BTW, This is about the 3rd time that I have had to go through a compile/build/install cycle for some required extension. Quite a difference as opposed to dropping a *.jar file into the classpath of my Java app.
Depending on your Linux distro there may already be binary packages
available for most of the popular Python extensions, including wxPython.
And for pure-python modules, all you have to do is drop them in site-packages. A native compiled extension for JAVA will have all the same problems is python, and I don't think there's a distutils for JAVA, is there?
-Chris
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Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
Oceanographer
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