Why does ActivePython exist?

Viewed 32874

What's ActivePython actually about?

From what I've read it's just standard Python with OpenSSL and PyWin32 (on Windows). No big deal I guess; I could install them in matter of minutes, and most people don't need them anyway. All other mentioned libraries (zlib, bzip2, SQLite 3, Tkinter, ElementTree, ctypes, and multiprocessing) are part of the core Python distribution.

Next up, the tag-line "ActivePython is the industry-standard Python distribution", isn't core Python distribution "industry-standard" (whatever that means?)?

And the weirdest thing, is that ActiveState bundles it with crappy PythonWin, and not their own most-awesome Python editor/IDE, Komodo. What gives?

I actually never got to installing ActivePython, so maybe I don't know something, but it seems pretty irrelevant, and I see the name quite often on forums or here.

6 Answers

ActiveState will also be supporting Python 2.7 while the standard Python 2.7 will no longer be supported in 2020. If you have a large codebase that won't be migrated in time, you'll need to make security patches yourself or go with something like ActiveState Python.

Related