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Python cannot find newly installed module

I've created a module using the following setup.py
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# Learn more: https://github.com/kennethreitz/setup.py
from setuptools import setup, find_packages
with open('README.md') as f:
readme = f.read()
with open('LICENSE') as f:
license = f.read()
setup(
name='mymod',
version='1.0a1',
description='test',
long_description=readme,
long_description_content_type="text/markdown",
author='Ray Salemi',
author_email='ray#raysalemi.com',
url='https://rayboston#bitbucket.org/rayboston/mymod',
license=license,
packages=find_packages(exclude=('tests', 'docs', 'examples'))
)
But when I try to install it using
% python setup.py install
I see that it gets installed in my site packages:
Processing mymod-1.0a1-py3.8.egg
Copying mymod-1.0a1-py3.8.egg to /Users/raysalemi/PycharmProjects/testenv/lib/python3.8/site-packages
Adding mymod 1.0a1 to easy-install.pth file
Installed /Users/raysalemi/PycharmProjects/testenv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/mymod-1.0a1-py3.8.egg
Processing dependencies for mymod==1.0a1
Finished processing dependencies for mymod==1.0a1
(testenv) (base) raysalemi#WriteNow mymod % cd ../testenv
(testenv) (base) raysalemi#WriteNow testenv % python
Python 3.8.3 (default, Jul 2 2020, 11:26:31)
[Clang 10.0.0 ] :: Anaconda, Inc. on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import mymod
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'mymod'
How do I debug this? I can't see an error.
I'm running Big Sur 11.0.1 and
Python 3.8.3 from Anaconda
Pip shows the module is there
Package Version
---------- -------
pip 20.3.1
mymod 1.0a1
setuptools 41.2.0
The problem is that the package is being misnamed:
(testenv) (base) raysalemi#WriteNow site-packages % ls
__pycache__ mymod-1.0a0-py3.8.egg
easy-install.pth mymod-1.0a0.dist-info
easy_install.py setuptools
pip setuptools-41.2.0.dist-info
pip-20.3.1.dist-info src
pkg_resources
It is mymod-1.0a0-py3.8.egg instead of mymod

To debug you can run the setup:
python setup.py sdist --formats=gztar
and unzip the resulting .tar.gz file and check if all your source code files are in it.
(or use --formats=zip instead of gztar to get a simpler file to extract)
The resulting package is always of the form package_name-package_version, so the name you received is not incorrect. (In case you are wondering, you can find the valid package_version formatting rules here.)
You can later use this package by adding it to the requirements.txt file of the project you want to be dependent on it. E.g.
my-package>=1.2.0,<2.0.0
In your case, since the version is a pre-release (mymod-1.0a0-py3.8.egg ==> version is 1.0a0-py3.8.egg which means version 1.0 pre-relase version alpha0-py3.8).
The version 1.0a0-py3.8.egg < than version 1.0 (pre-release always < release with same number), so you will need something like >0,<2.0.
Personally, I put the source code in the repo under src/ and then select these files in setup.py using:
packages=find_namespace_packages(where="src")
There are other parameters I recommend using e.g. make sure environment has a new enough setuptools to recognize find_namespace_packages, take list of dependencies from requirements.txt files etc.:
from setuptools import setup, find_namespace_packages
with open('requirements.txt') as f:
required = f.read().splitlines()
setup(
name='your_project_name',
version='1.0.0',
description='your project description',
url='your repo url',
author='your username',
author_email='your email',
license='your license type',
package_dir={'': 'src'},
setup_requires='setuptools>=45.2.0',
packages=find_namespace_packages(where="src"),
install_requires=required,
data_files=['requirements.txt'],
include_package_data=True
)
See the full list of options and what they are for in the documentation.

I found my problem.
My source directory was named src not mymod. So there was a src directory in site-packages instead of a mymod directory. This is a surprise since the package is named in setup.py.

Force compiler when running python setup.py install

Is there a way to explicitly force the compiler for building Cython extensions when running python setup.py install? Where setup.py is of the form:
import os.path
import numpy as np
from setuptools import setup, find_packages, Extension
from Cython.Distutils import build_ext
setup(name='test',
packages=find_packages(),
cmdclass={'build_ext': build_ext},
ext_modules = [ Extension("test.func", ["test/func.pyx"]) ],
include_dirs=[np.get_include()]
)
I'm trying to install a package on Windows 8.1 x64 using Anaconda 3.16, Python 3.4, setuptools 18, NumPy 1.9 and Cython 0.24. The deployment script is adapted from the Cython wiki and this Stack Overflow answer:
Makefile.bat
:: create and activate a virtual environement with conda
conda create --yes -n test_env cython setuptools=18 pywin32 libpython numpy=1.9 python=3
call activate test_env
:: activate the MS SDK compiler as explained in the Cython wiki
cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\
set MSSdk=1
set DISTUTILS_USE_SDK=1
#call .\Bin\SetEnv /x64 /release
cd C:\test
python setup.py install
The problem is that in this case setup.py install still used the MinGW compiler included with conda instead of the MS Windows SDK 7.1 one.
So the DISTUTILS_USE_SDK=1 and MSSdk=1 don't seem to have an impact on the build. I'm not sure if activating the MS SDK from within a conda virtualenv might be an issue here.
Running python setup.py build_ext --compiler=msvc correctly builds the extension with the MS compiler, but subsequently running the setup.py install recompiles it with MinGW again. Same applies to python setup.py build --compiler=msvc.
Also tried running %COMSPEC% /E:ON /V:ON /K "%PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\Bin\SetEnv.cmd" as discussed in the answer linked above, but for me this produces a new terminal prompt, colored in yellow, and stops the install process.
Is there a way of forcing the compiler for building this package, for instance, by editing the setup.py?

You can provide (default) command line arguments for distutils in a separate file called setup.cfg (placed parallel to your setup.py). See the docs for more information. To set the compiler use something like:
[build]
compiler=msvc
Now calling python setup.py build is equivalent to calling python setup.py build --compiler=msvc. (You can still direct distutils to use an other complier by calling python setup.py build --compiler=someothercompiler)
Now you have (successfully directed distutils to use a msvc compiler. Unfortunately there is no option to tell it which msvc compiler to use. Basically there are two options:
One: Do nothing and distutils will try to locate vcvarsall.bat and use that to setup an environment. vcvarsall.bat (and the compiler it sets the environment up for) are part of Visual Studio, so you have to have installed that for it to work.
Two: Install the Windows SDK and tell distutils to use that. Be aware that the name DISUTILS_USE_SDK is rather missleading (at least in my opinion). It does NOT in fact tell distutils to use the SDK (and it's setenv.bat) to setup an environment, rather it means that distutils should assume the environment has already been set up. That is why you have to use some kind of Makefile.bat as you have shown in the OP.
Side Note: The specific version of VisualStudio or the Windows SDK depends on the targeted python version.

As a remark: on linux, you can use many of the autoconf environment variables. For the compiler
CC=mpicc python setup.py build_ext -i

Well I found a trick in my case : I wanted to use MSVC14.0 (from buildtools 2015) and NOT MSVC14.1 (buildtools 2017). I edited the file Lib\distutils_msvccompiler.py. There is a method
_find_vcvarsall
which is calling
best_version, best_dir = _find_vc2017()
I replaced this call by
best_version, best_dir = _find_vc2015()
Do not forget to undo this dirty trick once compiled.

I ended up putting this at the beginning of setup.py to force visual2015
useful when running in a non bat environment and starting vcvarsall from outside is not an option
if sys.platform == 'win32':
# patch env with vcvarsall.bat from vs2015 (vc14)
try:
cmd = '"{}..\\..\\VC\\vcvarsall.bat" x86_amd64 >nul 2>&1 && set'.format(environ['VS140COMNTOOLS'])
out = subprocess.check_output(cmd, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, universal_newlines=True)
except:
print("Error executing {}".format(cmd))
raise
for key, _, value in (line.partition('=') for line in out.splitlines()):
if key and value:
os.environ[key] = value
# inform setuptools that the env is already set
os.environ['DISTUTILS_USE_SDK'] = '1'

There is a --skip-build option of install command which will help you with this. You can also specify multiple commands in a row, like so:
python setup.py build --compiler=msvc install --skip-build
Here is a list of supported compiler types (as returned by setup.py build_ext --help-compiler):
--compiler=bcpp Borland C++ Compiler
--compiler=cygwin Cygwin port of GNU C Compiler for Win32
--compiler=mingw32 Mingw32 port of GNU C Compiler for Win32
--compiler=msvc Microsoft Visual C++
--compiler=unix standard UNIX-style compiler
Note: To prevent compati­bi­lity issues extension modules should be built with the same compiler as the Python interpreter itself.

Installing my own module from pyPI, using pip, is not working

Short summary
I can upload a package to pyPI, and install it with pip, but Python is not seeing it when I try to import it (it says there is no module with the relevant name). I am using Python 2.7 in Windows 7 (Anaconda distribution, using iPython interpreter).
Detailed summary
I am learning how to upload a package (mymathFoo) at the cheese shop (pyPI), and trying to make sure I can install it once it is uploaded. When I manually paste the package folder into my Lib/site-packages directory, it imports and works fine from my interpreter.
What I have done:
0. Write package
It's a silly little package with an add and subtract module (e.g., add(1,2)). The directory is structured as follows:
\mymathFoo
__init__.py
add.py #adds two numbers
subtract.py #subtract two numbers
setup.py #shown below
README.txt #simple description of package
The __init__.py file is as follows:
from add import add
from subtract import subtract
1. Register the package at pyPI
Namely, from the command line, I enter:
python setup.py register
Which returns:
running register
running check
Registering mymathFoo to http://pypi.python.org/pypi
Server response (200): OK
Note my setup.py file is:
from distutils.core import setup
setup(name="mymathFoo",
version="0.6.2",
url="http://mymathfoo.net",
maintainer='Math Foo',
maintainer_email='mathfoo#math.org',
py_modules=['add','subtract'],
description="Silly little math turd to add/subtract.")
Note if I change it to py_modules='mymathFoo' I get the same error as below.
2. Upload the package
At the command line, I entered:
python setup.py sdist bdist_wininst upload
And the response was:
running sdist
running check
warning: sdist: manifest template 'MANIFEST.in' does not exist (using default fi
le list)
writing manifest file 'MANIFEST'
creating mymathFoo-0.6.3
copying files to mymathFoo-0.6.3...
copying README.txt -> mymathFoo-0.6.3
copying add.py -> mymathFoo-0.6.3
copying setup.py -> mymathFoo-0.6.3
copying subtract.py -> mymathFoo-0.6.3
creating dist
creating 'dist\mymathFoo-0.6.3.zip' and adding 'mymathFoo-0.6.3' to it
adding 'mymathFoo-0.6.3\add.py'
adding 'mymathFoo-0.6.3\PKG-INFO'
adding 'mymathFoo-0.6.3\README.txt'
adding 'mymathFoo-0.6.3\setup.py'
adding 'mymathFoo-0.6.3\subtract.py'
removing 'mymathFoo-0.6.3' (and everything under it)
running bdist_wininst
running build
running build_py
creating build
creating build\lib
copying add.py -> build\lib
copying subtract.py -> build\lib
installing to build\bdist.win-amd64\wininst
running install_lib
creating build\bdist.win-amd64
creating build\bdist.win-amd64\wininst
creating build\bdist.win-amd64\wininst\PURELIB
copying build\lib\add.py -> build\bdist.win-amd64\wininst\PURELIB
copying build\lib\subtract.py -> build\bdist.win-amd64\wininst\PURELIB
running install_egg_info
Writing build\bdist.win-amd64\wininst\PURELIB\mymathFoo-0.6.3-py2.7.egg-info
creating 'c:\users\eric\appdata\local\temp\tmp65xxe2.zip' and adding '.' to it
adding 'PURELIB\add.py'
adding 'PURELIB\mymathFoo-0.6.3-py2.7.egg-info'
adding 'PURELIB\subtract.py'
removing 'build\bdist.win-amd64\wininst' (and everything under it)
running upload
Submitting dist\mymathFoo-0.6.3.zip to http://pypi.python.org/pypi
Server response (200): OK
Submitting dist\mymathFoo-0.6.3.win-amd64.exe to http://pypi.python.org/pypi
Server response (200): OK
Things seem to have worked. So far so good.
3. Install this package locally using pip.
Then I go to install this package with pip at the command line:
pip install mymathFoo
To which I get:
Downloading/unpacking mymathFoo
Downloading mymathFoo-0.6.3.zip
Running setup.py (path:c:\users\eric\appdata\local\temp\pip_build_Eric\mymathF
oo\setup.py) egg_info for package mymathFoo
Installing collected packages: mymathFoo
Running setup.py install for mymathFoo
Successfully installed mymathFoo
Cleaning up...
Running the above causes the following directory to be copied into my Lib/site-packages folder:
mymathFoo-0.6.3-py2.7.egg-info
4. Import the package (not)
This is where I run into the problem. I open my iPython interpreter (using Anaconda distribution of Python, Windows 7):
import mymathFoo
I get:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<ipython-input-7-b7486b6a0225>", line 1, in <module>
import mymathFoo
ImportError: No module named mymathFoo
What am I missing? Why is my poor little module invisible?
Update
Note if I collapse all the files into the root directory (which I ultimately do not want to do), the errors go away. Unfortunately I will often want directories in my root directory, and nothing I have tried based on comments has fixed this.
I'm still looking for an answer, the discussion here looks promising:
http://www.scotttorborg.com/python-packaging/index.html#
I will work through that and post any solutions I find.
Discussion of related, but not the same, issues
"ImportError: No module named httplib2" even after installation
how to install package with pypi in python 2.7?
Note
This is based on some work I am doing with the book Python 101, by Michael Driscoll (it is in draft form right now).

Your package does install, just not the way you intended it to:
$ pip install mymathFoo
Downloading/unpacking mymathFoo
Using download cache from /Users/stu/tmp/pip-cache/http%3A%2F%2Fpypi.counsyl.com%2Froot%2Fpypi%2F%2Bf%2F64ef17a9135f05820c2d96050ce4315d%2FmymathFoo-0.6.3.zip
Running setup.py egg_info for package mymathFoo
Installing collected packages: mymathFoo
Running setup.py install for mymathFoo
Successfully installed mymathFoo
Cleaning up...
$ python
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import add
>>> import subtract
>>>
Your setup.py says to install two modules, "add" and "subtract", and not to install a package named mymathFoo. Put add.py and subtract.py in a folder named 'mymathFoo', and set py_modules=['mymathFoo'] in setup.py.
Lastly, you can test your packaging without hitting pypi. Just run python setup.py install, and try to import you package.

it works for me:
>>> import mymathFoo
>>> dir(mymathFoo)
['__builtins__', '__doc__', '__file__', '__name__', '__package__', '__path__']
though your module exports nothing. It looks like you changed your package since #Stu-Gla's answer, as you removed the add.py and subtract.py from sources.
By the way, you do not need to register a dummy package to pypi in order to test it, you can also use pip to install a package locally:
pip install /path/to/sources # path where the setup.py is

python pandas installation issues

I have tried installing from
source (python setup.py install into the extracted tar ball dir)
using pip
using easy_install but nothing seems to work...I have downloaded and upgraded xcode, installed command-line tools..
I cloned the github repository for pandas
cd ../pandas
python setup.py install
running install
running bdist_egg
running egg_info
writing requirements to pandas.egg-info/requires.txt
writing pandas.egg-info/PKG-INFO
writing top-level names to pandas.egg-info/top_level.txt
writing dependency_links to pandas.egg-info/dependency_links.txt
reading manifest file 'pandas.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
reading manifest template 'MANIFEST.in'
warning: no files found matching 'setupegg.py'
no previously-included directories found matching 'doc/build'
warning: no previously-included files matching '*.so' found anywhere in distribution
warning: no previously-included files matching '*.pyd' found anywhere in distribution
warning: no previously-included files matching '*.pyc' found anywhere in distribution
warning: no previously-included files matching '.DS_Store' found anywhere in distribution
writing manifest file 'pandas.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
installing library code to build/bdist.macosx-10.6-intel/egg
running install_lib
running build_py
copying pandas/version.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.6-intel-2.7/pandas
running build_ext
**gcc-4.2 not found, using clang instead**
building 'pandas.index' extension
clang -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-common -dynamic -arch i386 -arch x86_64 -g -O2 -DNDEBUG -g -O3 -I/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/numpy/core/include -Ipandas/src/klib -Ipandas/src -I/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/include/python2.7 -c pandas/index.c -o build/temp.macosx-10.6-intel-2.7/pandas/index.o
In file included from pandas/index.c:260:
In file included from pandas/src/klib/khash_python.h:3:
pandas/src/klib/khash.h:573:1: warning: expression result unused [-Wunused-value]
KHASH_MAP_INIT_STR(str, size_t)
^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
pandas/src/klib/khash.h:565:2: note: expanded from macro 'KHASH_MAP_INIT_STR'
KHASH_INIT(name, kh_cstr_t, khval_t, 1, kh_str_hash_func, kh_str_hash_equal)
^
---more output like that...and in the end
Installed /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site- packages/pandas-0.10.1.dev_c934e02-py2.7-macosx-10.6-intel.egg
Processing dependencies for pandas==0.10.1.dev-c934e02
Searching for pytz
Reading http://pypi.python.org/simple/pytz/
Reading http://pytz.sourceforge.net
Reading http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=79122
Reading http://www.stuartbishop.net/Software/pytz
Reading http://sourceforge.net/projects/pytz/
Best match: pytz 2012h
Downloading http://pypi.python.org/packages/2.7/p/pytz/pytz-2012h-py2.7.egg#md5=4258fcfc023e9ff0057405d935fc6e1d
Processing pytz-2012h-py2.7.egg
creating /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pytz-2012h-py2.7.egg
Extracting pytz-2012h-py2.7.egg to /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages
Adding pytz 2012h to easy-install.pth file
Installed /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pytz-2012h-py2.7.egg
-----
Installed /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/six-1.2.0-py2.7.egg
Searching for numpy==1.6.2
Best match: numpy 1.6.2
Adding numpy 1.6.2 to easy-install.pth file
Using /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages
Finished processing dependencies for pandas==0.10.1.dev-c934e02
ipython
Python 2.7.3 (v2.7.3:70274d53c1dd, Apr 9 2012, 20:52:43)
Type "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
IPython 0.14.dev -- An enhanced Interactive Python.
? -> Introduction and overview of IPython's features.
%quickref -> Quick reference.
help -> Python's own help system.
object? -> Details about 'object', use 'object??' for extra details.
In [1]: import pandas
seems to work without issues..
when i use easy_install to install pandas, the on-screen output seems to suggest that it worked but on loading, python is not able to find the library
sudo easy_install pandas
Searching for pandas
Best match: pandas 0.10.1.dev-c934e02
Processing pandas-0.10.1.dev_c934e02-py2.7-macosx-10.8-intel.egg
pandas 0.10.1.dev-c934e02 is already the active version in easy-install.pth
Using /usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pandas-0.10.1.dev_c934e02-py2.7-macosx-10.8-intel.egg
Processing dependencies for pandas
Finished processing dependencies for pandas
dekumar-mn:ipython dekumar$ python
Python 2.7.3 (v2.7.3:70274d53c1dd, Apr 9 2012, 20:52:43)
[GCC 4.2.1 (Apple Inc. build 5666) (dot 3)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import pandas as pd
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ImportError: No module named pandas

You have multiple versions of Python 2.7. You installed pandas for one version, and then tried to import it into the other, and you can't do that, because they have separate site libraries.
If you need multiple versions of Python 2.7 for some reason, you have to learn how to manage multiple versions of Python. For example, always be sure whether you're using /usr/bin/easy_install or /usr/local/bin/easy_install, and use the one that goes with the python you plan to run.
But you probably don't need multiple versions. If you just uninstall the non-Apple one, everything will be a lot easier.
You can figure out the details from the paths in your logs. The manual install went to /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages, which is where Apple's /usr/bin/python looks. But the easy_install went to /usr/local/lib/python/2.7/site-packages, which is where the third-party (presumably Homebrew, from the brew tag?) /usr/local/bin/python. So clearly, the first python on your path is /usr/bin/python, while the first easy_install is /usr/local/bin/easy_install. That's going to lead to confusion, as it did here.
Even worse, if you install ipython into both Pythons, whichever one you install second is going to end up as /usr/local/bin/ipython, which is going to lead to even more confusion.
If you do sudo /usr/bin/easy_install pandas, you can use pandas in the Apple Python. To make sure that's the one you run, always do /usr/bin/python or /usr/bin/python /usr/local/bin/ipython. If you do sudo /usr/local/bin/easy_install pandas, you can use pandas in the third-party Python. To make sure that's the one you run, always do /usr/local/bin/python or /usr/local/bin/python /usr/local/bin/ipython.
Looking at your comments, and your more detailed edit, it's possible that you actually have two third-party Pythons here, which makes things even more confusing. If both of them prefer /usr/local/bin (and unless you're using MacPorts or Fink, they do), you've probably got one of them half-overwritten by the other, and there's just no way you're going to get this working. If that's the case, I would recommend that you do something radical. If you're not willing to do an install-from-scratch-with-settings-import of OS X, at least rm -rf /usr/local /Library/Python ~/Library/Python, then reinstall brew and any other third-party stuff you need, and this time make sure to only install one extra Python (although zero would still be better!).
Meanwhile, two minor side notes:
It's almost always better to use pip than easy_install. If you don't have it, sudo easy_install pip, and now you do. (The only common exceptions to that "almost" are for pip itself, and for readline.)
Don't use sudo with Homebrew. Homebrew goes through a lot of trouble to set up all of the directories it touches so you never need sudo. Once you start doing sudo brew, sudo /usr/local/bin/easy_install, etc., you end up breaking that, so later installations get permissions errors, and it takes a lot of work with brew doctor to fix everything.

How do I stop Python install on Mac OS X from putting things in my home directory?

I'm trying to install Python from source on my Mac. (OS X 10.6.2, Python-2.6.5.tar.bz2) I've done this before and it was easy, but for some reason, this time after ./configure, and make, the sudo make install puts things some things in my home directory instead of in /usr/local/... where I expect. The .py files are okay, but not the .so files...
RobsMac Python-2.6.5 $ sudo make install
[...]
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 ./Lib/anydbm.py /usr/local/lib/python2.6
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 ./Lib/ast.py /usr/local/lib/python2.6
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 ./Lib/asynchat.py /usr/local/lib/python2.6
[...]
running build_scripts
running install_lib
creating /Users/rob/Library/Python
creating /Users/rob/Library/Python/2.6
creating /Users/rob/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages
copying build/lib.macosx-10.4-x86_64-2.6/_AE.so -> /Users/rob/Library/
Python/2.6/site-packages
copying build/lib.macosx-10.4-x86_64-2.6/_AH.so -> /Users/rob/Library/
Python/2.6/site-packages
copying build/lib.macosx-10.4-x86_64-2.6/_App.so -> /Users/rob/Library/
Python/2.6/site-packages
[...]
Later, this causes imports that require those .so files to fail. For
example...
RobsMac Python-2.6.5 $ python
Python 2.6.5 (r265:79063, Apr 28 2010, 13:40:18)
[GCC 4.2.1 (Apple Inc. build 5646) (dot 1)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import zlib
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 1, in
ImportError: No module named zlib
Any ideas what is wrong?
thanks,
Rob

Doh. I've answered my own question. Recently I created a ~/.pydistutils.cfg file, for some stupid reason. I forgot to delete that file. It's contents were:
[install]
install_lib = ~/Library/Python/$py_version_short/site-packages
install_scripts = ~/bin
make install calls setup.py, and this file was overriding the normal setup.py behavior.
Rob

In general, installing Python (or anything directly from the source) when it is already available on your system or when there are package managers that will install it for you, is not a very good idea. I strongly advise you against installing Python manually... Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard comes with Python 2.6 out of the box; if you want a newer version of Python 2.6, then you should install MacPorts, and use:
sudo port install python26 python_select
You can then use the python_select to toggle between the system's version and MacPort's version.
If you are determined to install manually from the source, though, the way to do it would be to run "make distclean" (or untar the code separately again), then run "./configure --help" for a full list of configuration options. It is possible that on Mac OS X, it defaults to something other than /usr/local, in which case you could force it to install in that location by invoking configure with "./configure --prefix=/usr/local".

Have you checked the parameters or variables make expects? There probably is a make variable you can use to override that behavior. In any case, have you tried MacPorts? It may be a better solution to what you are trying to accomplish.