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| -rw-r--r-- | README | 98 |
1 files changed, 51 insertions, 47 deletions
@@ -1,20 +1,18 @@ -This is Python release 1.3 -========================== +This is Python release 1.4 beta 1 +================================= + +It's a beta release. Only use this if you want to help me iron the +last wrinkles out of the distribution before I release the real 1.4 +release. In particular, I'm interested in porting experiences to Unix +boxes. It should build out of the box using "./configure; make". +Also try running configue with the --with-thread and --with-readline +options (described below). What's new in this release? --------------------------- -- Keyword parameters (see the last chapter of the tutorial). -- Third argument to raise (the stacktrace to provide). -- Faster function and method calls. -- Jim Fulton's abstract object interface (Include/abstract.h). -- Support for Tk 4.0 in Tkinter (Tkinter now supports keywords!). -- Rewritten htmllib.py (HTML parser), with new formatter.py. -- Rewritten rexec.py (restricted execution). -- New modules ni.py and ihooks.py (package support and more). -- And lots more that you'll have to discover on your own (see chapter - 12 of the Tutorial or the Misc/NEWS file). +XXX What is Python anyway? @@ -22,7 +20,8 @@ What is Python anyway? Python is an interpreted object-oriented programming language, and is often compared to Tcl, Perl or Scheme. For a quick summary of what -Python can mean for a UNIX/C programmer, read Misc/BLURB.LUTZ. +Python can mean for a UNIX/C programmer, read Misc/BLURB.LUTZ. If you +have web access, point your browser to <URL:http://www.python.org>. If you don't read instructions @@ -89,8 +88,10 @@ problems as well. Try it before sending in a bug report! Troubleshooting --------------- -If you run into trouble, see section 3 of the FAQ (file Misc/FAQ) for -hints on what can go wrong, and how to fix it. +If recursive makes fail, try invoking make as "make MAKE=make". + +If you run into other trouble, see section 3 of the FAQ (file +Misc/FAQ) for hints on what can go wrong, and how to fix it. Platform specific notes @@ -104,7 +105,7 @@ Linux: Once you've built Python, use it to run the regen.py script in the Lib/linux1 directory. Apparently the files as distributed don't match the system headers on some Linux versions. -AIX: Read the file Misc/AIX-NOTES before trying to build. +AIX: Read the files Misc/AIX-NOTES* before trying to build. HP-UX: Read the file Misc/HPUX-NOTES if you want to be able to use shared libraries for dynamically loaded modules. @@ -180,7 +181,7 @@ To install the interpreter as /usr/local/bin/python, type "make install". To install the library as /usr/local/lib/python, type "make libinstall". To install the manual page as /usr/local/man/man1/python.1, type "make maninstall". To install the -Emacs editing mode for python, manually copy the file +Emacs editing mode for Python, manually copy the file Misc/python-mode.el to your local Emacs lisp directory. The directory /usr/local can be overridden at configuration time by passing --prefix=DIRECTORY to the configure script, or at make time by passing @@ -230,12 +231,13 @@ all object files by running "make clean" before rebuilding. about the install prefix... --with-readline: You can use the GNU readline library to improve the - interactive user interface: this gives you line editing and - command history when calling python interactively. You need - to configure build the GNU readline library before running the - configure script. Its sources are not distributed with - Python; you can ftp them from any GNU mirror site, or from its - home site: + interactive user interface. This gives you line editing and + command history when calling Python interactively. Unless GNU + readline is a standard part of your system (it is on Linux), + you need to configure build the GNU readline library before + running the configure script. Its sources are not distributed + with Python; you can ftp them from any GNU mirror site, or + from its home site: <URL:ftp://slc2.ins.cwru.edu/pub/dist/readline-2.0.tar.gz> (or a higher version number -- using version 1.x is not recommended). @@ -248,15 +250,17 @@ all object files by running "make clean" before rebuilding. Pass the Python configure script the option --with-readline=DIRECTORY where DIRECTORY is the absolute pathname of the directory where you've built the readline - library. Some hints on building and using the readline - library are in the FAQ (file Misc/FAQ). - ---with-thread: On SGI IRIX, and on Sun SOLARIS 2, you can use multiple - threads. To enable this, pass --with-thread. In the - Modules/Setup file, enable the thread module. (Threads aren't - enabled automatically because there are run-time penalties - when support for them is compiled in even if you don't use - them.) + library. If GNU readline is a standard part of your system, + don't pass '=DIRECTORY'. Some hints on building and using the + readline library are in the FAQ (file Misc/FAQ). + +--with-thread: On most Unix systems, you can now use multiple threads. + To enable this, pass --with-thread. If the library required + for threads lives in a peculiar place, you can use + --with-thread=DIRECTORY. In the Modules/Setup file, enable + the thread module. (Threads aren't enabled automatically + because there are run-time penalties when support for them is + compiled in even if you don't use them.) --with-sgi-dl: On SGI IRIX 4, dynamic loading of extension modules is supported by the "dl" library by Jack Jansen, which is @@ -392,9 +396,9 @@ send the four resulting PostScript files (tut.ps, lib.ps, ref.ps, and ext.ps) to the printer. See the README file there. All documentation is also available on-line via the World-Wide Web -(WWW): <URL:http://www.cwi.nl/~guido/Python.html>. It can also be -downloaded separately from the ftp archives (see below) in Emacs INFO, -HTML or PostScript form -- see the FAQ (file Misc/FAQ) for more info. +(WWW): <URL:http://www.python.org>. It can also be downloaded +separately from the ftp archives (see below) in Emacs INFO, HTML or +PostScript form -- see the FAQ (file Misc/FAQ) for more info. Emacs mode @@ -427,9 +431,9 @@ problem has already been answered! Ftp access ---------- -Python's "home ftp site" is ftp.cwi.nl, directory pub/python. See the -FAQ (file Misc/FAQ) for a list of other ftp sites carrying the Python -distribution. +Python's "home ftp site" is ftp.python.org, directory /pub/python. +See the FAQ (file Misc/FAQ) for a list of other ftp sites carrying the +Python distribution. Newsgroup and mailing list @@ -461,8 +465,9 @@ have to edit the first line as well to fix the -I and -L options.) See the Build Instructions above for more details. There is little documentation. Begin with fetching the "Tk Lifesaver" -document, e.g. <URL:ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/python/doc/tkinter-doc.tar.gz> -(a gzipped tar file containing a PostScript file). There are demos in +document, +e.g. <URL:ftp://ftp.python.org/pub/python/doc/tkinter-doc.tar.gz> (a +gzipped tar file containing a PostScript file). There are demos in the Demo/tkinter directory, in the subdirectories guido, matt and www. Note that there's a Python module called "Tkinter" (capital T) which @@ -526,12 +531,12 @@ Author's address ---------------- Guido van Rossum -CWI, dept. CST -P.O. Box 94079 -1090 GB Amsterdam -The Netherlands +CNRI +1895 Preston White Drive +Reston, VA 22094 +USA -E-mail: guido@cwi.nl +E-mail: guido@python.org @@ -565,5 +570,4 @@ OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---Guido van Rossum, CWI, Amsterdam <mailto:guido@cwi.nl> -<http://www.cwi.nl/~guido/> +--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/) |