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DateTime in Python standard distribution?

Robin Munn rmunn at pobox.com
Fri Dec 13 15:46:28 EST 2002 
Peter Maas <peter.maas at mplusr.de> wrote:
> I just browsed What's New in Python 2.3 and I wondered again why
> there is no DateTime in Python standard distribution enabling
> DateTime arithmetics. Yes, I know mx.DateTime but as a newbie you
> have first to find it, then to download and install it. DateTime
> arithmetics is so widely used (at least in office environments)
> that I find its absence in the standard Python library strange.
> I think it should even be a  builtin data type like complex. Is
> there any reason why it's not included or has it just been
> forgotten?
> 
> Mit freundlichen Gruessen,
> 
> Peter Maas

I can't claim to speak for the Python developers, but my guess would be
that the reason involves a license conflict between the Python license
(found at http://www.python.org/2.2.2/license.html) and the mx.DateTime
license (which is the eGenix.com Public License, to be found at
http://www.egenix.com/files/python/mxLicense.html#Public). I am not a
lawyer and so can't claim expertise on the subject, but I'm educated
enough to be able to read and understand legalese, at least; and my
reading of these two licenses suggests no significant incompatibilities
between them and, as far as I can tell, no legal reason why mx.DateTime
should not be included in the standard Python distribution.

On the other hand, Marc-André Lemburg is the owner of the mx extensions
package, and has presumably thought about this before. If mx.DateTime is
not part of the standard Python distribution, I would assume it's
because he requested that it not be included. I would love to hear his
thoughts on the matter.

-- 
Robin Munn <rmunn at pobox.com>
http://www.rmunn.com/
PGP key ID: 0x6AFB6838    50FF 2478 CFFB 081A 8338  54F7 845D ACFD 6AFB 6838
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