Add "Python on Unix" document, mostly written for GHOP

by Shriphani Palakodety.

3 files changed, 147 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/using/index.rst b/Doc/using/index.rst
index e2fa4b4..ac5fd3c 100644
--- a/Doc/using/index.rst
+++ b/Doc/using/index.rst
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ interpreter and things that make working with Python easier.
 .. toctree::
 
    cmdline.rst
+   unix.rst
    windows.rst
    mac.rst
 
diff --git a/Doc/using/unix.rst b/Doc/using/unix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b69bd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Doc/using/unix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+.. highlightlang:: none
+
+.. _using-on-windows:
+
+********************************
+ Using Python on Unix platforms
+********************************
+
+.. sectionauthor:: Shriphani Palakodety
+
+
+Getting and installing the latest version of Python
+===================================================
+
+On Linux
+--------
+
+Python comes preinstalled on most Linux distributions, and is available as a
+package on all others.  However there are certain features you might want to use
+that are not available on your distro's package.  You can easily compile the
+latest version of Python from source.
+	
+In the event Python doesn't come preinstalled and isn't in the repositories as
+well, you can easily make packages for your own distro.  Have a look at the
+following links:
+
+.. seealso::
+
+   http://www.linux.com/articles/60383
+      for Debian users
+   http://linuxmafia.com/pub/linux/suse-linux-internals/chapter35.html
+      for OpenSuse users
+   http://docs.fedoraproject.org/drafts/rpm-guide-en/ch-creating-rpms.html
+      for Fedora users
+   http://www.slackbook.org/html/package-management-making-packages.html
+      for Slackware users
+
+
+On FreeBSD and OpenBSD
+----------------------
+
+* FreeBSD users, to add the package use::
+
+     pkg_add -r python
+
+* OpenBSD users use::
+
+     pkg_add ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/4.2/packages/<insert your architecture here>/python-<version>.tgz 
+	
+  For example i386 users get the 2.5.1 version of Python using::
+
+     pkg_add ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/4.2/packages/i386/python-2.5.1p2.tgz
+
+
+On OpenSolaris
+--------------
+
+To install the newest Python versions on OpenSolaris, install blastwave
+(http://www.blastwave.org/howto.html) and type "pkg_get -i python" at the
+prompt.
+
+
+Building Python
+===============
+
+If you want to compile CPython yourself, first thing you should do is get the
+`source <http://python.org/download/source/>`_. You can download either the
+latest release's source or just grab a fresh `checkout
+<http://www.python.org/dev/faq/#how-do-i-get-a-checkout-of-the-repository-read-only-and-read-write>`_.
+
+The build process consists the usual ::
+
+   ./configure
+   make
+   make install
+
+invocations. Configuration options and caveats for specific Unix platforms are
+extensively documented in the :file:`README` file in the root of the Python
+source tree.
+
+
+Python-related paths and files
+==============================
+ 
+These are subject to difference depending on local installation conventions;
+:envvar:`prefix` (``${prefix}``) and :envvar:`exec_prefix` (``${exec_prefix}``)
+are installation-dependent and should be interpreted as for GNU software; they
+may be the same.
+
+For example, on most Linux systems, the default for both is :file:`/usr`.
+
++-----------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
+| File/directory                                | Meaning                                  |
++===============================================+==========================================+
+| :file:`{exec_prefix}/bin/python`              | Recommended location of the interpreter. |
++-----------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
+| :file:`{prefix}/lib/python{version}`,         | Recommended locations of the directories |
+| :file:`{exec_prefix}/lib/python{version}`     | containing the standard modules.         |
++-----------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
+| :file:`{prefix}/include/python{version}`,     | Recommended locations of the directories |
+| :file:`{exec_prefix}/include/python{version}` | containing the include files needed for  |
+|                                               | developing Python extensions and         |
+|                                               | embedding the interpreter.               |
++-----------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
+| :file:`~/.pythonrc.py`                        | User-specific initialization file loaded |
+|                                               | by the user module; not used by default  |
+|                                               | or by most applications.                 |
++-----------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
+ 
+
+Miscellaneous
+=============
+
+To easily use Python scripts on Unix, you need to make them executable,
+e.g. with ::
+
+   $ chmod +x script
+
+and put an appropriate Shebang line at the top of the script.  A good choice is
+usually ::
+
+   #!/usr/bin/env python
+
+which searches for the Python interpreter in the whole :envvar:`PATH`.  However,
+some Unices may not have the :program:`env` command, so you may need to hardcode
+``/usr/bin/python`` as the interpreter path.
+
+To use shell commands in your python scripts, look at the :mod:`subprocess` module.
+
+
+Editors
+=======
+
+Vim and Emacs are excellent editors which support Python very well.  For more
+information on how to code in python in these editors, look at:
+
+http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=790
+http://sourceforge.net/projects/python-mode
+
+Geany is an excellent IDE with support for a lot of languages. For more
+information, read: http://geany.uvena.de/
+
+Komodo edit is another extremely good IDE.  It also has support for a lot of
+languages. For more information, read:
+http://www.activestate.com/store/productdetail.aspx?prdGuid=20f4ed15-6684-4118-a78b-d37ff4058c5f
diff --git a/Doc/using/windows.rst b/Doc/using/windows.rst
index db83605..9f549fa 100644
--- a/Doc/using/windows.rst
+++ b/Doc/using/windows.rst
@@ -260,8 +260,7 @@ Compiling Python on Windows
 If you want to compile CPython yourself, first thing you should do is get the
 `source <http://python.org/download/source/>`_. You can download either the
 latest release's source or just grab a fresh `checkout
-<http://www.python.org/dev/faq/
-#how-do-i-get-a-checkout-of-the-repository-read-only-and-read-write>`_.
+<http://www.python.org/dev/faq/#how-do-i-get-a-checkout-of-the-repository-read-only-and-read-write>`_.
 
 For Microsoft Visual C++, which is the compiler with which official Python
 releases are built, the source tree contains solutions/project files.  View the