$Id: README,v 1.11 2001/12/31 19:49:26 jt Exp $

Abstract:

This is the README for the Cygwin Python 2.2 distribution.

As of Python 2.1, Cygwin Python is built with a DLL core very similar
to how Win32 Python is built.  This enables Cygwin Python to support
building shared extensions with the traditional Misc/Makefile.pre.in
and the newer distutils methods.

As of Python 2.1.1-2, the Cygwin Python port is essentially complete (at
least for Windows NT 4.0 and 2000).  The most notable changes are the
addition of the _tkinter module and the elimination of the test_poll hang.

I was tempted to enable threading in the 2.1.1-2 release too.
Unfortunately, there is still one known problem with Cygwin's pthreads
support.  So, I opted for the more prudent choice which is to continue
to disable threading until this problem is resolved.  See the issues
section for more details, if interested.

Requirements:

The following packages or later are required to build and/or execute
Cygwin Python:

    Cygwin 1.3.4-1
    binutils-20011002-1
    gcc 2.95.3-5

The following packages or later are required to build and/or execute
some of the standard Cygwin Python extension modules:

    gdbm-1.8.0-3      (gdbm)
    libncurses6-5.2-2 (_curses and _curses_panel)
    ncurses-5.2-7     (_curses and _curses_panel)
    openssl-0.9.6b-2  (_socket)
    readline-4.2-3    (readline)
    tcltk-20001125-1  (_tkinter)
    zlib-1.1.3-6      (zlib)

Install:

Cygwin Python does not require any special installation procedures.
However, to use the _tkinter module you must define the following
environment variables:

    $ export TCL_LIBRARY=$(cygpath -w /usr/share/tcl8.0)
    $ export TK_LIBRARY=$(cygpath -w /usr/share/tk8.0)

since tcltk-20001125-1 is a native Win32 (i.e., not Cygwin) application.

Source:

At the time of this writing, the Python source does not quite build OOTB
under Cygwin due to two issues.  First, there is a bug in a ncurses-5.2-7
header file that prevents the _curses module from building.  Second,
due to issues with Cygwin's fork() and DLL base address conflicts, the
_socket module should be built statically.  Both of these problems have
been worked around with a small patch to the official Python 2.2 source.
See the issues section for more details.

I also added the following files to the source archive:

    CYGWIN-PATCHES/README
    CYGWIN-PATCHES/build.sh
    CYGWIN-PATCHES/python.patch

and renamed the original source archive to match Cygwin's setup.exe
naming conventions.

To restore the Python source to its original state, perform the following:

    $ cd python-2.2
    $ patch -R -p1 <CYGWIN-PATCHES/python.patch
    $ rm -fr CYGWIN-PATCHES

Build:

This distribution has been configured as follows:

    configure --prefix=/usr --without-threads

See CYGWIN-PATCHES/build.sh in the source archive for my exact build
recipe for configuring, making, and packaging this distribution.

Test:

On NT/2000, Cygwin Python passes all tests.  Use the following to run
the regression test:

    $ make test

On XP, I assume that Cygwin Python should behave the same as on NT/2000.
However I do not have access to XP, so I cannot verify this behavior
myself.

On 9X/Me, Cygwin Python hangs in test_select and test_socket fails.
Use the following to run the regression test:

    $ make TESTOPTS='-l -x test_select' test

Note that the above 9X/Me regression test results have been reported
to me.  Since I do not have access to 9X/Me, I cannot verify this
behavior myself.

Issues:

The following are the known Cygwin Python issues:

1. On 9X/ME, the regression test test_select hangs and test_socket fail.

2. The _tkinter extension module will only be built if the X11 header
files from the tcltk-20001125-1 source archive have been copied to
/usr/include:

    $ mkdir -p /usr/include/X11
    $ tar -xzf tcltk-20001125-1-src.tar.gz
    $ cp tcltk-20001125-1/tk/xlib/X11/*.h /usr/include/X11

3. Although Cygwin Python builds OOTB with threading enabled, there is a
known but non-trivial to fix race condition in Cygwin's pthreads support.
Hence, I have decided to continue to disable threading until this problem
is corrected.  If interested, see the following mailing list thread for
the gory details:

    http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2001-09/msg01543.html

4. The _curses module does not build due to a bug in the ncurses-5.2-7
ncurses.h header file that prevents successful linking.  This problem
can be worked around with the following patch:

    http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=480769&group_id=5470&atid=305470

5. Due to issues with Cygwin's fork() and DLL base address conflicts,
the _socket module should be built statically instead of shared as is
the default.  Otherwise, Python scripts that import the _socket module
and call fork() will fail.  This problem should be corrected for all
Cygwin apps (including Python) when a DLL rebasing tool is integrated
into the standard Cygwin distribution.  See the following for details:

    http://sources.redhat.com/ml/cygwin/2001-12/msg00894.html

Homepage:

The primary Python web site is:

    http://www.python.org/

Download:

The primary Python ftp site is:

    ftp://ftp.python.org/pub/python/

Mailing Lists:

Please report problems, suggestions, etc. dependent on their nature to one of
the following:

    python-list@python.org
    cygwin@sources.redhat.com

Maintainer:

    Jason Tishler <jason@tishler.net>