I've written an application in pyqt4. It is working in linux and i guess it should work in windows without any changes (there is nothing system specific). I'd like to make an installer for windows, so windows users doesn't have python and pyqt on their systems before.
So is there any way to do it?
Use PyInstaller. It handles packaging for Windows, Linux and OS X. For an example of a packaged Qt4 application using PyInstaller, see logview.
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I have a Python application built with PyQt5. My current OS is Windows 11 and I'm able to distribute my software to Windows users using PyInstaller and Inno Setup (to create the installer). However, I would like to distribute it to MacOS and Linux users too.
From PyInstaller's documentation:
PyInstaller is tested against Windows, Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux. However, it is not a cross-compiler: to make a Windows app you run PyInstaller in Windows; to make a GNU/Linux app you run it in GNU/Linux, etc. PyInstaller has been used successfully with AIX, Solaris, FreeBSD and OpenBSD but testing against them is not part of our continuous integration tests.
As you can see, PyInstaller is not cross-compiler. So, I'm wondering the best way to distribute my software to all OS using PyInstaller. Actually, I'm able to create .deb using WSL2, but no clues for .dmg for MacOS.
I've already read that I can use virtual machines to achieve this, but I would like some alternatives (maybe Docker?)
Thanks!
I'm trying to build an application written in python, which can run on Windows without the need to install python or associated libraries(standalone), and I want to do that on my mac. I tried Pyinstaller, but it seems to generate files executable only in a platform that is building the application(in this case, osx).
Is there easy way out like Pyinstaller or do I have to do that in a very complex way? Since I'm not the expert, the latter option might be impossible for me to do. Would it be more wise just to try to build the app on windows than mac using pyinstaller?
For pyinstaller, they have clearly mentioned that packaging Windows binaries while running under OS X is NOT supported, and recommended to use Wine for this.
1. Can I package Windows binaries while running under Linux?
No, this is not supported. Please use Wine for this, PyInstaller runs
fine in Wine. You may also want to have a look at this thread in the
mailinglist. In version 1.4 we had build in some support for this, but
it showed to work only half. It would require some Windows system on
another partition and would only work for pure Python programs. As
soon as you want a decent GUI (gtk, qt, wx), you would need to install
Windows libraries anyhow. So it's much easier to just use Wine.
2. Can I package Windows binaries while running under OS X?
No, this is not supported. Please try Wine for this.
3. Can I package OS X binaries while running under Linux?
This is currently not possible at all. Sorry! If
you want to help out, you are very welcome.
I'm making a program in python, but once I'm finished with the program, will the users have to download the python environment in order to use my program, or will it work without the python environment once compiled? Also, will it automatically be cross-platform or will I have to download a conversion program to make it work for Linux, Mac OS and Windows? I'm new to the language so this is confusing me.
Many Linux systems come with Python installed already. However, there are some tools to help if it is not:
pyinstaller for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X (does not work for Python 3)
bbfreeze for Windows and Linux
py2exe for Windows
Freeze for Linux
py2app for Mac OS X
Have a look at py2exe for windows, linux and mac is likely to have it preinstalled.
They would need a python interpreter to use your program unless you turn your python script into a windows executable. One way of doing that is by using Py2exe
It depends on what 3rd party libraries you include in your program.
For example I never managed to make a windows executable with the PyQt lib,
by using py2exe. But this was 2-3 years ago and things might have changed.
Also don't hardcode paths in your program and make use of functions like os.path.join
Don't make assumptions about config files and stuff. Do check on runtime the platform
your program is running on and act accordingly.
In general, your biggest problem will be the Windows platform.
My question is about the easiness of distributing the GUI app across the platforms (Mac/Linux/Windows), and I want to know the one that makes the user's job easiest.
My current understanding is that Tkinter app is the easiest for the users (to install) because as long as the user has installed a Python in her box, my application should be ready to run on that box.
For GUI app written in wxPython or pyQT, the user needs to install wxWidget or QT in her box first, which is an extra step, and then install my GUI app. (But my Ubuntu box seems to have the wxWidget libraries and QT libraries installed by default, is that a norm or just Ubuntu distro is more friendly to users? I guess Windows and Mac probably does not provide them by defualt, ie. the users need to download and install them as an extra step)
If you're running Ubuntu, PyQt will be installed by default. Most linux distros will have one of PyGtk or PyQt installed by default. WxPython was most likely installed in your Ubuntu box as a dependency for some other package in your system.
If your target market is Linux, you can just create a deb or rpm package and that'll take care of the dependencies for your application.
For Windows and Mac(and even Linux if you're so inclined) you could bundle the python interpreter with your application and its libraries into a native executable format such
as .exe, .dmg or .elf using libraries like cx_freeze, py2exe and py2app. Once this is done, your user will not have to install python or any of your libraries.
Tkinter is the only one that's included with Python. wxPython and pyQT need both the wxWindows or QT libraries and the wxPython or pyQT libraries to be installed on the system.
However, Tk does not look very nice. If you're already making the user install Python, you could just as well have them install the libraries too. (Or maybe include an installer or something.)
If the app is going to be cross-platform I would suggest WxWidgets (wxpython). I have used it several times and it has never been a problem.
Nevertheless, you should create different installers for Windows, Mac and Linux. In Linux, use .deb or .rpm to take care of dependencies.
In Windows, I've always used py2exe to create an exe file. Py2exe works by attaching the python interpreter and the needed libraries, in this case wxWidgets.
Check this link for more information: http://www.py2exe.org/
I'm writing a program in python using PySide(PyQt) and I want to distribute it to friends and family when I'm finished. I have looked at other posts in stack overflow, but I can't seem to find any good ones showing an easy solution(command line or otherwise) that will create an executable for my program to be run on other computers who don't have python or Qt etc. I'm running Ubuntu right now, however I would like to be able to package for windows as well.
Edit: I wrote all the Qt interface in my python script, so the whole project is contained in the one script.
I have used PyInstaller to create executables for scripts using PyQt4 under Windows without any trouble. Though I have not used it on Linux, it claims Linux (and OSX) support as well. You may need to create your Windows binaries in a Windows system or through Wine according to the FAQ:
Can I package Windows binaries while running under Linux?
No, this
is not supported. Please use Wine for this, PyInstaller runs fine in
Wine. You may also want to have a look at this thread in the
mailinglist. In version 1.4 we had build in some support for this, but
it showed to work only half. It would require some Windows system on
another partition and would only work for pure Python programs. As
soon as you want a decent GUI (gtk, qt, wx), you would need to install
Windows libraries anyhow. So it's much easier to just use Wine.