[Twisted-Python] [RFC] Introducing six as a dependency

[exarkun at twistedmatrix.com]

On 10:32 am, tobias.oberstein at tavendo.de wrote:
>>>Even having full access to MSDN, it can be incredibly obscure to 
>>>discover which Python version goes with which Visual Studio product. 
>>>(Someone, please prove me wrong and indicate that there's a web page 
>>>that shows what the official python.org >> builds use and you don't 
>>>have to go trawling through python-dev archives to figure it out...)
>
>It is obscure. And I don't have a link, but the official Python on 
>Windows builds are done using Microsoft Visual C++ 2008.
>
>- VS 2010 will NOT work
>- the free VS 2008 Express works (for 32-bit builds .. it does not 
>include a 64-bit compiler)
>
>To build Twisted working with official binary Python builds, the exact 
>same compiler is needed: VS2008.

The question isn't "What compiler is needed to build Twisted?"  People 
on this list probably know that already (I certainly do, since I set up 
several of Twisted's Windows buildslaves).  The question is "How could a 
user ever hope to find out what compiler is needed to build Twisted?"

As long as the Python documentation fails to answer this question better 
than it does now (and VS2008 is not the correct answer: the correct 
answer _depends on the Python version_), Windows users will not have an 
easy time of it.

Jean-Paul