[ZDP] Compiling Python on MacOS X

[Jeffrey P Shell]

> In order to use Zope I was trying to compile Python under Mac OSX, however I
> cannot get it to compile under OSX... any suggestions????
> Thanks,
> Fabio Lahr (flahr@abril.com.br)

I assume that you're talking about one of the developer releases of MacOS X
and not a shipping release of MacOS X Server.  This basically goes for
either platform:

 o Due to the case insensitive (but preserving) nature of the HFS+ File
System, Python will not compile on that due to the python source code having
a top level directory named 'Python' and the make/build process wanting to
move the executable, 'python' to the top directory at the end of the build
process.  It's pretty hard to get around this due to future things you have
to do after the main build process (ie, 'make install').  MacOS X, starting
with Developer Preview 2, allowed you to install MacOS X on an HFS+
partition.  This is great if you're intending to use it a lot with MacOS 8/9
(either in the Classic environment or wanting to access that volume under
MacOS 8/9), but if you're going to be using more Unix-oriented tools,
install on a UFS partition.  MacOS X Server can only install on a UFS
partition, but you could still run into this problem if you tried to build
Python on an HFS+ one.

If that's not your problem, I suggest checking out my mediocre-ly put
together HowTo on building Zope on MacOS X / MacOS X Server.  It should
apply to all Darwin based platforms.  I'm no Unix or Mach / Darwin expert,
this is just the best approach I've been able to find.

http://www.zope.org/Members/jshell/buildingZopeOnMacOSXServer


-- 
Jeffrey P Shell, jeffrey@Digicool.com
http://www.zope.org/