962dfca9b8
* More updates to the docs themselves and the versions to be available with the next release. * .texi and .rst copies of the HOWTO and the short history of (this part) of the project.
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153 lines
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Overview
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========
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The GPGME Python bindings passed through many hands and numerous phases
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before, after a fifteen year journey, coming full circle to return to
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the source. This is a short explanation of that journey.
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.. _in-the-begining:
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In the beginning
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----------------
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In 2002 John Goerzen released PyME; Python bindings for the GPGME module
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which utilised the current release of Python of the time and SWIG. [1]_
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Shortly after creating it and ensuring it worked he stopped supporting
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it, though he left his work available on his Gopher site.
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Keeping the flame alive
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-----------------------
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A couple of years later the project was picked up by Igor Belyi and
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actively developed and maintained by him from 2004 to 2008. Igor\'s
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whereabouts at the time of this document\'s creation are unknown, but
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the current authors do hope he is well. We\'re assuming (or hoping) that
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life did what life does and made continuing untenable.
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Passing the torch
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-----------------
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In 2014 Martin Albrecht wanted to patch a bug in the PyME code and
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discovered the absence of Igor. Following a discussion on the PyME
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mailing list he became the new maintainer for PyME, releasing version
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0.9.0 in May of that year. He remains the maintainer of the original
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PyME release in Python 2.6 and 2.7 (available via PyPI).
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.. _ouroboros:
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Coming full circle
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------------------
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In 2015 Ben McGinnes approached Martin about a Python 3 version, while
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investigating how complex a task this would be the task ended up being
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completed. A subsequent discussion with Werner Koch led to the decision
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to fold the Python 3 port back into the original GPGME release in the
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languages subdirectory for non-C bindings under the module name of
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``pyme3``.
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In 2016 this PyME module was integrated back into the GPGME project by
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Justus Winter. During the course of this work Justus adjusted the port
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to restore limited support for Python 2, but not as many minor point
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releases as the original PyME package supports. During the course of
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this integration the package was renamed to more accurately reflect its
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status as a component of GPGME. The ``pyme3`` module was renamed to
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``gpg`` and adopted by the upstream GnuPG team.
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In 2017 Justus departed G10code and the GnuPG team. Following this Ben
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returned to maintain of gpgme Python bindings and continue building them
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from that point.
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.. _relics-past:
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Relics of the past
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==================
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There are a few things, in addition to code specific factors, such as
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SWIG itself, which are worth noting here.
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The Annoyances of Git
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---------------------
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As anyone who has ever worked with git knows, submodules are horrible
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way to deal with pretty much anything. In the interests of avoiding
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migraines, that was skipped with addition of the PyME code to GPGME.
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Instead the files were added to a subdirectory of the ``lang/``
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directory, along with a copy of the entire git log up to that point as a
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separate file within the ``lang/python/docs/`` directory. [2]_ As the
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log for PyME is nearly 100KB and the log for GPGME is approximately 1MB,
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this would cause considerable bloat, as well as some confusion, should
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the two be merged.
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Hence the unfortunate, but necessary, step to simply move the files. A
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regular repository version has been maintained should it be possible to
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implement this better in the future.
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The Perils of PyPI
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------------------
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The early port of the Python 2 ``pyme`` module as ``pyme3`` was never
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added to PyPI while the focus remained on development and testing during
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2015 and early 2016. Later in 2016, however, when Justus completed his
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major integration work and subsequently renamed the module from
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``pyme3`` to ``gpg``, some prior releases were also provided through
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PyPI.
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Since these bindings require a matching release of the GPGME libraries
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in order to function, it was determined that there was little benefit in
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also providing a copy through PyPI since anyone obtaining the GPGME
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source code would obtain the Python bindings source code at the same
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time. Whereas there was the potential to sew confusion amongst Python
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users installing the module from PyPI, only to discover that without the
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relevant C files, header files or SWIG compiled binaries, the Python
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module did them little good.
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There are only two files on PyPI which might turn up in a search for
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this module or a sample of its content:
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#. gpg (1.8.0) - Python bindings for GPGME GnuPG cryptography library
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#. pyme (0.9.0) - Python support for GPGME GnuPG cryptography library
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.. _pypi-gpgme-180:
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GPG 1.8.0 - Python bindings for GPGME GnuPG cryptography library
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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This is the most recent version to reach PyPI and is the version of the
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official Pyhon bindings which shipped with GPGME 1.8.0. If you have
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GPGME 1.8.0 installed and *only* 1.8.0 installed, then it is probably
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safe to use this copy from PyPI.
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As there have been a lot of changes since the release of GPGME 1.8.0,
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the GnuPG Project recommends not using this version of the module and
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instead installing the current version of GPGME along with the Python
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bindings included with that package.
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.. _pypi-gpgme-90:
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PyME 0.9.0 - Python support for GPGME GnuPG cryptography library
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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This is the last release of the PyME bindings maintained by Martin
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Albrecht and is only compatible with Python 2, it will not work with
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Python 3. This is the version of the software from which the port from
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Python 2 to Python 3 code was made in 2015.
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Users of the more recent Python bindings will recognise numerous points
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of similarity, but also significant differences. It is likely that the
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more recent official bindings will feel \"more pythonic.\"
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For those using Python 2, there is essentially no harm in using this
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module, but it may lack a number of more recent features added to GPGME.
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Footnotes
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=========
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.. [1]
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In all likelihood thos would have been Python 2.2 or possibly Python
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2.3.
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.. [2]
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The entire PyME git log and other preceding VCS logs are located in
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the ``gpgme/lang/python/docs/old-commits.log`` file.
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