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Comment by kadmia | Hacker News Reader

We use pip over easy_install

http://pip.openplans.org/

pip + requirements file + virtualenv (virtualenvwrapper) makes the setup of an development environment really easy. With virtualenvwrapper you can hook into different scripts, for example when you start/switch working on a project

Rvm does well for ruby

And of course some asshat downvotes because you bring up ruby...

I'll just point out that rvm isn't a pip for ruby. It only manages what version of ruby you're currently using and allows seamless switching. It comes in handy with ruby because of all the compatibility issues between ruby versions and rails versions. Pip is a sophisticated package manager that can be used with virtualenv to isolate where Python libraries are installed. They are indeed both good tools for development but serve different purposes.

RVM also manages gemsets, which lets you quickly save and switch the set of installed gems (packages). You're correct that it doesn't replace gem as a package manager.

I've been bitten by this a few times as pypi was down. I still do this, but I'm thinking about setting up some private hosting for the libs I need.

you don't need pypi to use pip.

"Private hosting" in this case, can be as simple as a plain-jane Apache server with some tarballs in a directory with listing turned on. Use -f to point pip to the directory. Instant private hosting. This is more or less how we publish internal libraries at work.

Is there a good step-by-step on a setup like this? I've used RVM for Ruby and that is pretty straight forward...

Someone commenting on their workflow using these tools would be awesome as well.

At this point, pip is the way to install Python packages. Anyone who's pointing you otherwise is a bit out-of-date (touch?).

Does pip install required Windows binaries like easy_install?

Sure that's "the word on the street" so to speak, but is pip really so much of an improvement over easy_install (or buildout, no experience with it) ? Don't get me wrong, I like and use pip as much as of the next python guy, but I often get the impression that pip (and virtualenv) have an almost fanboyish charm; many/most of their advocates just ape each other and they'd be strongly pressed to explain why they are so much better than the alternatives (if they are even aware of them).

What is awesome is that easy_install always seemed to work for me. Having access to pip is icing on the cake now.

I tried to install Ruby the other day and I swear the packaging is broken 9 times out of 10.

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