Past, Present and Future of Packaging in Python

How to make software available to others? How to get software made by others? Currently, there is more than one way to do it in Python. In this talk, we’ll walk through the dark history of Python packaging to get a clear picture of the current situation and a good idea of what’s coming.

Outline:

* A short history of packaging
— distutils: origins, design and problems
— setuptools: improvements, new problems and drama

* The present situation
— A myriad of new tools
- Zoom on Web deployment: pip, virtualenv, buildout
- Python 3 support
— Standardization efforts
- Python Enhancement Proposals
- Implementing the standards: distutils2

* Perspectives
— The three faces of distutils2
- How to add d2 support to your software without losing distutils/setuptools compatibility
- How to use d2 to get software
- How to use d2 as a support library in your packaging tools
— Timeline, TODOs and contribution: we want you!