Re: Psycopg2 Windows packaging

On Tue, Nov 8, 2016 at 12:45 PM, Aleksi Häkli <aleksi.hakli@vincit.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