Make IDLE installation optional
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- Dominant language
- Python
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- 77.2k
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Description
Feature or enhancement
Proposal:
IDLE is useful at development-time, but a graphical IDE isn't something that needs to be present, for example, in a container image containing production code. IDLE is a standalone app with no dependents elsewhere in the standard library, so it's trivial to strip from the installation directory after running make install - by removing lib/python3.x/idlelib/ and the executable/symlink in bin - but it'd be much more convenient if it were possible to tell configure not to install it in the first place.
This could be implemented with a new option, --without-idle. This would allow IDLE to be installed by default for backwards compatibility, while permitting it not to be installed in situations where it isn't needed.
Has this already been discussed elsewhere?
This is a minor feature, which does not need previous discussion elsewhere
Links to previous discussion of this feature:
No response
Linked PRs
- gh-117684
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by tracing the configure option handling and the make install rules that place IDLE under lib/python3.x/idlelib/ and its executable or symlink in bin. Check how the gh-117684 work addresses installation, and verify that the new option skips those files while the default installation remains unchanged.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- build-system
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100