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PyMaemo/FAQ

[edit] What is Python?

Python is a dynamic object-oriented programming language that can be used for many kinds of software development. It offers strong support for integration with other languages and tools, comes with extensive standard libraries, and can be learned in a few days.

[edit] What is PyMaemo?

PyMaemo is the Python distribution for Nokia's Linux-based Maemo devices, providing a comprehensive set of platform bindings for rapid application development.

[edit] What is Nokia's role in PyMaemo?

Development and maintenance of PyMaemo is partially funded by Nokia. The project is community-supported and not part of the official Maemo SDK, providing us openness and flexibility of being able to continuously improve the packages using the maemo.org infrastructure instead of relying on the periodic SDK releases.

[edit] Does PyMaemo come installed by default?

No, but it is provided in the maemo.org Extras repository and gets installed as a dependency for many end-user applications.

[edit] Why are some modules (e.g.: curses) missing?

In order to keep the platform small and easy to support, PyMaemo only comes with the most commonly used packages.

[edit] Why do I get errors like “ImportError: No module named xyz” even though module xyz is installed under /usr/lib/python2.5 in Scratchbox?

Inside Scratchbox, if you call just “python” it will run the internal Python interpreter used by Scratchbox (/scratchbox/tools/bin/python), which is at the moment version 2.3. This interpreter will not see any modules installed inside your target.

This occurs even if you use the complete path (/usr/bin/python), due to some path redirection trick done by Scratchbox. Therefore, to make sure you are using the correct Python interpreter in Scratchbox (currently at version 2.5), make sure to call “python2.5” explicitely, i.e. use “#!/usr/bin/python2.5 at the beginning of your scripts and modify Debian packaging so that python2.5 is called instead of just “python”.

[edit] When I build my Python application on Scratchbox, files are installed in /scratchbox/... How do I modify Debian packaging so the correct Python interpreter is called?

You can try adding these lines to the beginning of your debian/rules (after the first “#!/usr/bin/make -f” line):

PATH := /usr/bin:$(PATH)
SBOX_REDIRECT_IGNORE := $(SBOX_REDIRECT_IGNORE):/usr/bin/python
export PATH SBOX_REDIRECT_IGNORE

If that still does not work, please post your error messages to our mailing list.