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Doc/distributing/index.rst

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+.. _distributing-index:
+
+###############################
+  Distributing Python Modules
+###############################
+
+:Email: distutils-sig@python.org
+
+
+As a popular open source development project, Python has an active
+supporting community of contributors and users that also make their software
+available for other Python developers to use under open source license terms.
+
+This allows Python users to share and collaborate effectively, benefiting
+from the solutions others have already created to common (and sometimes
+even rare!) problems, as well as potentially contributing their own
+solutions to the common pool.
+
+This guide covers the distribution part of the process. For a guide to
+installing other Python projects, refer to the
+:ref:`installation guide <installing-index>`.
+
+.. note::
+
+   For corporate and other institutional users, be aware that many
+   organisations have their own policies around using and contributing to
+   open source software. Please take such policies into account when making
+   use of the distribution and installation tools provided with Python.
+
+
+Key terms
+=========
+
+* the `Python Package Index <https://pypi.python.org/pypi>`__ is a public
+  repository of open source licensed packages made available for use by
+  other Python users
+* the `Python Packaging Authority
+  <http://packaging.python.org/en/latest/future.html>`__ are the group of
+  developers and documentation authors responsible for the maintenance and
+  evolution of the standard packaging tools and the associated metadata and
+  file format standards. They maintain a variety of tools, documentation
+  and issue trackers on both `GitHub <https://github.com/pypa>`__ and
+  `BitBucket <https://bitbucket.org/pypa/>`__.
+* ``distutils`` is the original build and distribution system first added to
+  the Python standard library in 1998. While direct use of ``distutils`` is
+  being phased out, it still laid the foundation for the current packaging
+  and distribution infrastructure, and it not only remains part of the
+  standard library, but its name lives on in other ways (such as the name
+  of the mailing list used to coordinate Python packaging standards
+  development).
+
+
+Open source licensing and collaboration
+=======================================
+
+In most parts of the world, software is automatically covered by copyright.
+This means that other developers require explicit permission to copy, use,
+modify and redistribute the software.
+
+Open source licensing is a way of explicitly granting such permission in a
+relatively consistent way, allowing developers to share and collaborate
+efficiently by making common solutions to various problems freely available.
+This leaves many developers free to spend more time focusing on the problems
+that are relatively unique to their specific situation.
+
+The distribution tools provided with Python are designed to make it
+reasonably straightforward for developers to make their own contributions
+back to that common pool of software if they choose to do so.
+
+The same distribution tools can also be used to distribute software within
+an organisation, regardless of whether that software is published as open
+source software or not.
+
+
+Installing the tools
+====================
+
+The standard library does not include build tools that support modern
+Python packaging standards, as the core development team has found that it
+is important to have standard tools that work consistently, even on older
+versions of Python.
+
+The currently recommended build and distribution tools can be installed
+using ``pip``::
+
+    pip install setuptools wheel twine
+
+
+Reading the guide
+=================
+
+The Python Packaging User Guide covers the various key steps and elements
+involved in creating a project
+
+* `Project structure`_
+* `Building and packaging the project`_
+* `Uploading the project to the Python Package Index`_
+
+.. _Project structure: \
+   http://packaging.python.org/en/latest/tutorial.html#creating-your-own-project
+.. _Building and packaging the project: \
+   http://packaging.python.org/en/latest/tutorial.html#building-packaging-your-project
+.. _Uploading the project to the Python Package Index: \
+   http://packaging.python.org/en/latest/tutorial.html#uploading-your-project-to-pypi
+
+
+How do I...?
+============
+
+These are quick answers or links for some common tasks.
+
+... choose a name for my project?
+---------------------------------
+
+This isn't an easy topic, but here are a few tips:
+
+* check the Python Package Index to see if the name is already in use
+* check popular hosting sites like GitHub, BitBucket, etc to see if there
+  is already a project with that name
+* check what comes up in a web search for the name you're considering
+* avoid particularly common words, especially ones with multiple meanings,
+  as they can make it difficult for users to find your software when
+  searching for it
+
+
+... create and distribute binary extensions?
+--------------------------------------------
+
+This is actually quite a complex topic, with a variety of alternatives
+available depending on exactly what you're aiming to achieve. See the
+Python Packaging User Guide for more information and recommendations.
+
+.. seealso::
+
+   `Python Packaging User Guide: Binary Extensions
+   <http://packaging.python.org/en/latest/extensions.html>`__
+
+.. other topics:
+
+   Once the Development & Deployment part of PPUG is fleshed out, some of
+   those sections should be linked from new questions here (most notably,
+   we should have a question about avoiding depending on PyPI that links to
+   http://packaging.python.org/en/latest/deployment.html#pypi-mirrors-and-caches)