matplotlib on Tiger---and Panther, with Py2.3 and Py2.4...

John Hunter wrote:

If either of you have a diff against setup*.py that will make mpl src
builds on these systems work better, I'll fold them into the main
line.

I had intended to do this, but before I do, I think theres a need for a little discussion.

Charles and I have taken two different approaches to dealing with the dependencies not included in stock OS-X:

libpng
libfreetype

(as noted by Charles, libfreetype does seem to exist, in some form with Apple's X11 implementation, but neither of us could get it to work)

The way I handled these libs was to build them as static libs, install them inside the matplotlib build tree, then alter the setup.py so that it would use the statically linked versions. This resulted in a simple stand-alone binary, that is easy to install. However, you do need to put those static libs in the right place before you can build, so I wasn't sure we'd want to hard-code that into the stock setup.py. You do need to resolve the dependencies in some way in any case, so maybe it's not a bad idea.

My understanding is that Charles took an alternative approach: providing libpng and libfreetype as OS-X Frameworks, and building matplotlib against those. This is really the way it "should" be done on OS-X. However, it seems a little harder to set up to me (unless the libs in question work with a --framework flag to make. I spend a lot more time on Linux, so all this is a bit of a mystery to me.) It also strikes me as a little harder to make a package out of, as you've got multiple things to install and bdist_mpkg won't just do it for you.

What are other's thoughts about the best way to do this? It would be nice to have a standard approach built into the matplotlib setup.py.

-Chris

ยทยทยท

--
Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
Oceanographer
                                         
NOAA/OR&R/HAZMAT (206) 526-6959 voice
7600 Sand Point Way NE (206) 526-6329 fax
Seattle, WA 98115 (206) 526-6317 main reception

Chris.Barker@...259...