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Sep 23, 2021
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bpo-38623: Add note about site module (site-packages) #16974

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Add note about site module (site-packages)
bittner Oct 28, 2019
4343609
Avoid unnecessary detail (global vs user site-packages)
bittner Jan 6, 2020
01ffe23
Mention "site-packages" directory explictly
bittner Jan 7, 2020
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3 changes: 2 additions & 1 deletion Doc/tutorial/modules.rst
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Expand Up @@ -191,7 +191,8 @@ named :file:`spam.py` in a list of directories given by the variable
file is specified).
* :envvar:`PYTHONPATH` (a list of directory names, with the same syntax as the
shell variable :envvar:`PATH`).
* The installation-dependent default.
* The installation-dependent default (by convention including a
``site-packages`` directory, handled by the :mod:`site` module).
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I feel this is just a noise for tutorial readers.

We don't introduce even standard library (it is introduced in 6.2). So we shouldn't mention about what is in the "installation-dependent default" in this chapter. It should be just "some other directories" for the readers here.

If you really want to document site-packages, I think Python Setup and Usage or Installing Python Modules is better place.

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It's not clear to the reader what "handled" means here. What would a reader of the tutorial do with the site module?

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@bittner bittner Mar 1, 2020 •
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Would "taken care of [by ...]" be better, maybe? This is mainly a referral to the first paragraph of the site module documentation, which says:

This module is automatically imported during initialization.

The tutorial reader, which may be someone having landed here by organic search traffic (i.e. not necessarily a Python novice), may get a hint on what "installation-dependent default[s]" are (via "site-packages") and where to read more about it (via the link to the site module documentation).

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I guess i don't understand why any reader needs to know what module placed site-packages into the import path? Just because someone might land on this page through a search doesn't mean we should add every fact to it. The tutorial should first and foremost be useful to read by beginners. This addition seems like a confusing addition.


.. note::
On file systems which support symlinks, the directory containing the input
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