Question

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Distributing Python programs

I have several source codes for some GUI programs I made in Python. I’d like to distribute them. However, I’d like to make it as easy as possible for the end user to get the program up and running. What are the common way’s of going about this problem?

This is in reference to Windows XP and on.

Answer 1

All noteworthy linux distributions and Mac OS come shipped with some version of Python. Windows don’t have Python installed by default, so you must install it separately in order to run a Python module. Of course the installed Python version must be the same as your program (version 2 or 3).

The easiest way to distribute your program is to just distribute the source code (e.g. send your module by email or upload it somewhere) but in that case, the target PC must have Python installed and meet the dependencies. An even better solution (at least for the community) is to upload your program as a package on PyPi. More info for that procedure can be found HERE.

In some cases there are reasons that prevent you from using these options. For example you can’t install python and/or the dependencies (no root/admin account). If that is the case, you can bundle your module(s) along with everything else that is required to run your program (e.g python*.dll on windows). As far as i know the basic options for this kind of distribution are the following ones:

1. PyInstaller
2. briefcase
3. fbs
4. PyOxidizer
5. nuitka –standalone
6. py2app (only for Mac OS)
7. cx_Freeze
8. freeze

9. py2exe

10. cython –embed

Another approach would be to use Portable Python or in case of Linux/BSD StaticPython

Note : Not all of the aforementioned tools run on all platforms or/and support Python3. Check their documentation.

Unmaintained ones

1. bbFreeze
2. esky (unmaintained)
3. vendorID
4. gui2exe