This is Python version 2.5.1============================ Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Python Software Foundation. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2000 BeOpen.com.All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 1995-2001 Corporation for National Research Initiatives.All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 1991-1995 Stichting Mathematisch Centrum.All rights reserved.  License information------------------- See the file "LICENSE" for information on the history of thissoftware, terms & conditions for usage, and a DISCLAIMER OF ALLWARRANTIES. This Python distribution contains no GNU General Public Licensed(GPLed) code so it may be used in proprietary projects just like priorPython distributions.  There are interfaces to some GNU code but theseare entirely optional. All trademarks referenced herein are property of their respectiveholders.  What's new in this release?--------------------------- See the file "Misc/NEWS".  If you don't read instructions------------------------------ Congratulations on getting this far. :-) To start building right away (on UNIX): type "./configure" in thecurrent directory and when it finishes, type "make".  This creates anexecutable "./python"; to install in /usr/local, first do "su root"and then "make install". The section `Build instructions' below is still recommended reading.  What is Python anyway?---------------------- Python is an interpreted, interactive object-oriented programminglanguage suitable (amongst other uses) for distributed applicationdevelopment, scripting, numeric computing and system testing.  Pythonis often compared to Tcl, Perl, Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic orScheme.  To find out more about what Python can do for you, point yourbrowser to http://www.python.org/.  How do I learn Python?---------------------- The official tutorial is still a good place to start; seehttp://docs.python.org/ for online and downloadable versions, as wellas a list of other introductions, and reference documentation. There's a quickly growing set of books on Python.  Seehttp://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonBooks for a list.  Documentation------------- All documentation is provided online in a variety of formats.  Inorder of importance for new users: Tutorial, Library Reference,Language Reference, Extending & Embedding, and the Python/C API.  TheLibrary Reference is especially of immense value since much ofPython's power is described there, including the built-in data typesand functions! All documentation is also available online at the Python web site(http://docs.python.org/, see below).  It is available online foroccasional reference, or can be downloaded in many formats for fasteraccess.  The documentation is available in HTML, PostScript, PDF, andLaTeX formats; the LaTeX version is primarily for documentationauthors, translators, and people with special formatting requirements. Unfortunately, new-style classes (new in Python 2.2) have not yet beenintegrated into Python's standard documentation.  A collection ofpointers to what has been written is at:     http://www.python.org/doc/newstyle.html  Web sites--------- New Python releases and related technologies are published athttp://www.python.org/.  Come visit us! There's also a Python community web site athttp://starship.python.net/.  Newsgroups and Mailing Lists---------------------------- Read comp.lang.python, a high-volume discussion newsgroup aboutPython, or comp.lang.python.announce, a low-volume moderated newsgroupfor Python-related announcements.  These are also accessible asmailing lists: see http://www.python.org/community/lists.html for anoverview of these and many other Python-related mailing lists. Archives are accessible via the Google Groups Usenet archive; seehttp://groups.google.com/.  The mailing lists are also archived, seehttp://www.python.org/community/lists.html for details.  Bug reports----------- To report or search for bugs, please use the Python BugTracker at http://sourceforge.net/bugs/?group_id=5470.  Patches and contributions------------------------- To submit a patch or other contribution, please use the Python PatchManager at http://sourceforge.net/patch/?group_id=5470.  Guidelinesfor patch submission may be found at http://www.python.org/patches/. If you have a proposal to change Python, it's best to submit a PythonEnhancement Proposal (PEP) first.  All current PEPs, as well asguidelines for submitting a new PEP, are listed athttp://www.python.org/peps/.  Questions--------- For help, if you can't find it in the manuals or on the web site, it'sbest to post to the comp.lang.python or the Python mailing list (seeabove).  If you specifically don't want to involve the newsgroup ormailing list, send questions to help@python.org (a group of volunteerswho answer questions as they can).  The newsgroup is the mostefficient way to ask public questions.  Build instructions================== Before you can build Python, you must first configure it.Fortunately, the configuration and build process has been automatedfor Unix and Linux installations, so all you usually have to do istype a few commands and sit back.  There are some platforms wherethings are not quite as smooth; see the platform specific notes below.If you want to build for multiple platforms sharing the same sourcetree, see the section on VPATH below. Start by running the script "./configure", which determines yoursystem configuration and creates the Makefile.  (It takes a minute ortwo -- please be patient!)  You may want to pass options to theconfigure script -- see the section below on configuration options andvariables.  When it's done, you are ready to run make. To build Python, you normally type "make" in the toplevel directory.If you have changed the configuration, the Makefile may have to berebuilt.  In this case you may have to run make again to correctlybuild your desired target.  The interpreter executable is built in thetop level directory. Once you have built a Python interpreter, see the subsections below ontesting and installation.  If you run into trouble, see the nextsection. Previous versions of Python used a manual configuration process thatinvolved editing the file Modules/Setup.  While this file still existsand manual configuration is still supported, it is rarely needed anymore: almost all modules are automatically built as appropriate underguidance of the setup.py script, which is run by Make after theinterpreter has been built.  Troubleshooting--------------- See also the platform specific notes in the next section. If you run into other trouble, see the FAQ(http://www.python.org/doc/faq) for hints on what can go wrong, andhow to fix it. If you rerun the configure script with different options, remove allobject files by running "make clean" before rebuilding.  Believe it ornot, "make clean" sometimes helps to clean up other inexplicableproblems as well.  Try it before sending in a bug report! If the configure script fails or doesn't seem to find things thatshould be there, inspect the config.log file. If you get a warning for every file about the -Olimit option being nolonger supported, you can ignore it.  There's no foolproof way to knowwhether this option is needed; all we can do is test whether it isaccepted without error.  On some systems, e.g. older SGI compilers, itis essential for performance (specifically when compiling ceval.c,which has more basic blocks than the default limit of 1000).  If thewarning bothers you, edit the Makefile to remove "-Olimit 1500" fromthe OPT variable. If you get failures in test_long, or sys.maxint gets set to -1, youare probably experiencing compiler bugs, usually related tooptimization.  This is a common problem with some versions of gcc, andsome vendor-supplied compilers, which can sometimes be worked aroundby turning off optimization.  Consider switching to stable versions(gcc 2.95.2, gcc 3.x, or contact your vendor.) From Python 2.0 onward, all Python C code is ANSI C.  Compiling usingold K&R-C-only compilers is no longer possible.  ANSI C compilers areavailable for all modern systems, either in the form of updatedcompilers from the vendor, or one of the free compilers (gcc). If "make install" fails mysteriously during the "compiling the library"step, make sure that you don't have any of the PYTHONPATH or PYTHONHOMEenvironment variables set, as they may interfere with the newly builtexecutable which is compiling the library. Unsupported systems------------------- A number of features are not supported in Python 2.5 anymore. Somesupport code is still present, but will be removed in Python 2.6. If you still need to use current Python versions on these systems,please send a message to python-dev@python.org indicating that youvolunteer to support this system. For a more detailed discussion regarding no-longer-supported and resupporting platforms, as wellas a list of platforms that became or will be unsupported, see PEP 11. More specifically, the following systems are not supported anylonger:- SunOS 4- DYNIX- dgux- Minix- NeXT- Irix 4 and --with-sgi-dl- Linux 1- Systems defining __d6_pthread_create (configure.in)- Systems defining PY_PTHREAD_D4, PY_PTHREAD_D6,  or PY_PTHREAD_D7 in thread_pthread.h- Systems using --with-dl-dld- Systems using --without-universal-newlines- MacOS 9 The following systems are still supported in Python 2.5, butsupport will be dropped in 2.6:- Systems using --with-wctype-functions- Win9x, WinME Warning on install in Windows 98 and Windows Me----------------------------------------------- Following Microsoft's closing of Extended Support forWindows 98/ME (July 11, 2006), Python 2.6 will stopsupporting these platforms. Python development andmaintainability becomes easier (and more reliable) whenplatform specific code targeting OSes with few usersand no dedicated expert developers is taken out. Thevendor also warns that the OS versions listed above"can expose customers to security risks" and recommendsupgrade. Platform specific notes----------------------- (Some of these may no longer apply.  If you find you can build Pythonon these platforms without the special directions mentioned here,submit a documentation bug report to SourceForge (see Bug Reportsabove) so we can remove them!) GCC 4.1,GCC 4.2: There is a known incompatibility between Python and GCC,         where GCC 4.1 and later uses an interpretation of C          different to earlier GCC releases in an area where the C          specification has undefined behaviour (namely, integer arithmetic          involving -sys.maxint-1). 	 As a consequence, compiling Python with GCC 4.1/4.2 is not	 recommended. It is likely that this problem will be resolved	 in future Python releases. As a work-around, it seems that	 adding -fwrapv to the compiler options restores the earlier	 GCC behaviour. Unix platforms: If your vendor still ships (and you still use) Berkeley DB        1.85 you will need to edit Modules/Setup to build the bsddb185        module and add a line to sitecustomize.py which makes it the        default.  In Modules/Setup a line like             bsddb185 bsddbmodule.c         should work.  (You may need to add -I, -L or -l flags to direct the        compiler and linker to your include files and libraries.) XXX I think this next bit is out of date: 64-bit platforms: The modules audioop, imageop and rgbimg don't work.        The setup.py script disables them on 64-bit installations.        Don't try to enable them in the Modules/Setup file.  They        contain code that is quite wordsize sensitive.  (If you have a        fix, let us know!) Solaris: When using Sun's C compiler with threads, at least on Solaris        2.5.1, you need to add the "-mt" compiler option (the simplest        way is probably to specify the compiler with this option as        the "CC" environment variable when running the configure        script).         When using GCC on Solaris, beware of binutils 2.13 or GCC        versions built using it.  This mistakenly enables the        -zcombreloc option which creates broken shared libraries on        Solaris.  binutils 2.12 works, and the binutils maintainers        are aware of the problem.  Binutils 2.13.1 only partially        fixed things.  It appears that 2.13.2 solves the problem        completely.  This problem is known to occur with Solaris 2.7        and 2.8, but may also affect earlier and later versions of the        OS.         When the dynamic loader complains about errors finding shared        libraries, such as         ld.so.1: ./python: fatal: libstdc++.so.5: open failed:        No such file or directory         you need to first make sure that the library is available on        your system. Then, you need to instruct the dynamic loader how        to find it. You can choose any of the following strategies:         1. When compiling Python, set LD_RUN_PATH to the directories           containing missing libraries.        2. When running Python, set LD_LIBRARY_PATH to these directories.        3. Use crle(8) to extend the search path of the loader.        4. Modify the installed GCC specs file, adding -R options into the           *link: section.         The complex object fails to compile on Solaris 10 with gcc 3.4 (at        least up to 3.4.3).  To work around it, define Py_HUGE_VAL as        HUGE_VAL(), e.g.:           make CPPFLAGS='-D"Py_HUGE_VAL=HUGE_VAL()" -I. -I$(srcdir)/Include'          ./python setup.py CPPFLAGS='-D"Py_HUGE_VAL=HUGE_VAL()"' Linux:  A problem with threads and fork() was tracked down to a bug in        the pthreads code in glibc version 2.0.5; glibc version 2.0.7        solves the problem.  This causes the popen2 test to fail;        problem and solution reported by Pablo Bleyer. Red Hat Linux: Red Hat 9 built Python2.2 in UCS-4 mode and hacked        Tcl to support it. To compile Python2.3 with Tkinter, you will        need to pass --enable-unicode=ucs4 flag to ./configure.         There's an executable /usr/bin/python which is Python        1.5.2 on most older Red Hat installations; several key Red Hat tools        require this version.  Python 2.1.x may be installed as        /usr/bin/python2.  The Makefile installs Python as        /usr/local/bin/python, which may or may not take precedence        over /usr/bin/python, depending on how you have set up $PATH. FreeBSD 3.x and probably platforms with NCurses that use libmytinfo or        similar: When using cursesmodule, the linking is not done in        the correct order with the defaults.  Remove "-ltermcap" from        the readline entry in Setup, and use as curses entry: "curses        cursesmodule.c -lmytinfo -lncurses -ltermcap" - "mytinfo" (so        called on FreeBSD) should be the name of the auxiliary library        required on your platform.  Normally, it would be linked        automatically, but not necessarily in the correct order. BSDI:   BSDI versions before 4.1 have known problems with threads,        which can cause strange errors in a number of modules (for        instance, the 'test_signal' test script will hang forever.)        Turning off threads (with --with-threads=no) or upgrading to        BSDI 4.1 solves this problem. DEC Unix: Run configure with --with-dec-threads, or with        --with-threads=no if no threads are desired (threads are on by        default).  When using GCC, it is possible to get an internal        compiler error if optimization is used.  This was reported for        GCC 2.7.2.3 on selectmodule.c.  Manually compile the affected        file without optimization to solve the problem. DEC Ultrix: compile with GCC to avoid bugs in the native compiler,        and pass SHELL=/bin/sh5 to Make when installing. AIX:    A complete overhaul of the shared library support is now in        place.  See Misc/AIX-NOTES for some notes on how it's done.        (The optimizer bug reported at this place in previous releases        has been worked around by a minimal code change.) If you get        errors about pthread_* functions, during compile or during        testing, try setting CC to a thread-safe (reentrant) compiler,        like "cc_r".  For full C++ module support, set CC="xlC_r" (or        CC="xlC" without thread support). AIX 5.3: To build a 64-bit version with IBM's compiler, I used the        following:         export PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/vacpp/bin        ./configure --with-gcc="xlc_r -q64" --with-cxx="xlC_r -q64" \                    --disable-ipv6 AR="ar -X64"        make HP-UX:  When using threading, you may have to add -D_REENTRANT to the        OPT variable in the top-level Makefile; reported by Pat Knight,        this seems to make a difference (at least for HP-UX 10.20)        even though pyconfig.h defines it. This seems unnecessary when        using HP/UX 11 and later - threading seems to work "out of the        box". HP-UX ia64: When building on the ia64 (Itanium) platform using HP's        compiler, some experience has shown that the compiler's        optimiser produces a completely broken version of python        (see http://www.python.org/sf/814976). To work around this,        edit the Makefile and remove -O from the OPT line.         To build a 64-bit executable on an Itanium 2 system using HP's        compiler, use these environment variables:                 CC=cc                CXX=aCC                BASECFLAGS="+DD64"                LDFLAGS="+DD64 -lxnet"         and call configure as:                 ./configure --without-gcc         then *unset* the environment variables again before running        make.  (At least one of these flags causes the build to fail        if it remains set.)  You still have to edit the Makefile and        remove -O from the OPT line. HP PA-RISC 2.0: A recent bug report (http://www.python.org/sf/546117)        suggests that the C compiler in this 64-bit system has bugs        in the optimizer that break Python.  Compiling without        optimization solves the problems. SCO:    The following apply to SCO 3 only; Python builds out of the box        on SCO 5 (or so we've heard).         1) Everything works much better if you add -U__STDC__ to the        defs.  This is because all the SCO header files are broken.        Anything that isn't mentioned in the C standard is        conditionally excluded when __STDC__ is defined.         2) Due to the U.S. export restrictions, SCO broke the crypt        stuff out into a separate library, libcrypt_i.a so the LIBS        needed be set to:                 LIBS=' -lsocket -lcrypt_i' UnixWare: There are known bugs in the math library of the system, as well as        problems in the handling of threads (calling fork in one        thread may interrupt system calls in others). Therefore, test_math and        tests involving threads will fail until those problems are fixed. QNX:    Chris Herborth (chrish@qnx.com) writes:        configure works best if you use GNU bash; a port is available on        ftp.qnx.com in /usr/free.  I used the following process to build,        test and install Python 1.5.x under QNX:         1) CONFIG_SHELL=/usr/local/bin/bash CC=cc RANLIB=: \            ./configure --verbose --without-gcc --with-libm=""         2) edit Modules/Setup to activate everything that makes sense for           your system... tested here at QNX with the following modules:                 array, audioop, binascii, cPickle, cStringIO, cmath,                crypt, curses, errno, fcntl, gdbm, grp, imageop,                _locale, math, md5, new, operator, parser, pcre,                posix, pwd, readline, regex, reop, rgbimg, rotor,                select, signal, socket, soundex, strop, struct,                syslog, termios, time, timing, zlib, audioop, imageop, rgbimg         3) make SHELL=/usr/local/bin/bash            or, if you feel the need for speed:            make SHELL=/usr/local/bin/bash OPT="-5 -Oil+nrt"         4) make SHELL=/usr/local/bin/bash test            Using GNU readline 2.2 seems to behave strangely, but I           think that's a problem with my readline 2.2 port.  :-\         5) make SHELL=/usr/local/bin/bash install         If you get SIGSEGVs while running Python (I haven't yet, but        I've only run small programs and the test cases), you're

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