Two useful python configurations

1 Manually select the source of packages when using easy_install

Put such a file in your $HOME$ path:

[easy_install]
index-url=http://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/pypi/simple

and name the file as : pydistutils.cfg
From now on the easy_install will use the index-url you just defined as a preferred source of packages.

More useful settings can be found here: Configure pydistutils.cfg - example python distutils config file

2 A python snippet to make updating easy_install package update easier

from setuptools.command.easy_install import main as install
from pkg_resources import Environment, working_set
import sys

plist = [dist.key for dist in working_set]

def autoUp():
    for p in Environment():
        try:
            install(['-U', '-v'] + [p])
        except:
            print "Update of %s failed!"%p
        print "Done!"

def stepUp():
    for p in Environment():
        a = raw_input("updating %s, confirm?(y/n)"%p)
        if a== 'y':
            try:
                install(['-U'] + [p])
            except:
                print "Update of %s failed!"%p
        else:
            print "Skipping %s"%p
        print "Done!"

print "You have %s packages currently managed through easy_install"%len(plist)
print plist

ans = raw_input('Do you want to update them... (N) not at all, (O) one by one, (A) All')

if ans == "N":
    sys.exit()
elif ans == "O":
    stepUp()
elif ans == "A":
    autoUp()
else:
    pass

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