For the embedded zip and nuget releases, I've omitted bdist_wininst. However, I forgot to remove the reference to it from distutils.command.__init__.__all__, and so setuptools will occasionally crash trying to import it.

This patch updates Tools/msi/make_zip.py to exclude the default distutils.command.__init__ and substitute a copy that does not have the added reference in it.

Doing something "smarter" in the actual Lib/distutils/command/__init__.py isn't really an option. The only reliable option is to import the module eagerly, which I don't want to do. Including bdist_wininst in these packages is also a bad option (I considered completely removing distutils from them, but it has *some* uses - can't say the same for bdist_wininst though).

Ned - I'd like to apply this change to 3.6. The patch is against 3.5, and there may be some subtle differences when I merge it forward (not every change to make_zip.py has been backported), but the intent is well captured here. If this is not applied to 3.6, then the packages will not be reliably usable with pip/setuptools, which is one of the intended uses (particularly for the nuget package).

The full fix may also require updating setuptools, which I'm pursuing, but we also should stop referring to a module that isn't there.

I'd like one of the other Windows folks to review it but, in principle, LGTM.

I've had a look. I agree in principle with the change, and the code looks OK on inspection, although I can't really test it. As it's only a change to one of the scripts in tools/msi, this seems like a low-risk change to me, so I'm OK with it.

A convenient test is:

    python.exe -c "import distutils.core; distutils.core.setup()" --help-comm
ands

Without the fix, it raises "distutils.errors.DistutilsModuleError: invalid command 'bdist_wininst'".

But yes, unfortunately the fix is not particularly direct here. I've validated that it works, and since it really only has to work on my machine (right now) that's actually pretty good coverage :)

New changeset f7aa200bed8d by Steve Dower in branch '3.5':
Issue #28783: Embedded and nuget packages incorrect reference missing bdist_wininst command.
https://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/f7aa200bed8d

New changeset a3755890545c by Steve Dower in branch '3.6':
Issue #28783: Embedded and nuget packages incorrect reference missing bdist_wininst command.
https://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/a3755890545c

New changeset 831f73efe3a6 by Steve Dower in branch 'default':
Issue #28783: Embedded and nuget packages incorrect reference missing bdist_wininst command.
https://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/831f73efe3a6

Thanks.

For reference, the setuptools issue is https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/issues/857

A setuptools install from source should be fixed by this change, though an install from a wheel (which is now typical, unfortunately) requires a separate fix. But we've done our part now.

I have a better fix for this issue in the attached patch. It doesn't require any change to setuptools in order to avoid crashing when installing from sdist (e.g. Cython).

As before, this only involves changing the nuget package and its build scripts, so there is zero risk to the main installer. It's even simpler than before too, because I can reuse the infrastructure that was added. (That said, I haven't tested this patch with a real build on the real build machine yet - I will do so before committing.)

Ned - can I get this in for 3.6.0? If not, I'll patch the file by hand before publishing the nuget packages.

I agree that the risk if this is applied appears to be minimal.  If Paul or Zack are OK with it and your testing is successful, I'll plan on cherrypicking it for 3.6.0 final.

I'm OK for this to go in.

Is it easy to cherry pick a merge commit? This will go into 3.5 first, but I can null merge and then clean commit it if that's easier?

Just do your normal thing.  I'll make it work.

New changeset 47bf09270027 by Steve Dower in branch '3.5':
Issue #28783: Replaces bdist_wininst in nuget packages with stub
https://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/47bf09270027

New changeset b8b1ad21e073 by Steve Dower in branch '3.6':
Issue #28783: Replaces bdist_wininst in nuget packages with stub
https://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/b8b1ad21e073

New changeset 402a227564f5 by Steve Dower in branch 'default':
Issue #28783: Replaces bdist_wininst in nuget packages with stub
https://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/402a227564f5

Thanks Ned, it's all yours.

New changeset 1f69fb337288 by Steve Dower in branch '3.6':
Issue #28783: Replaces bdist_wininst in nuget packages with stub
https://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/1f69fb337288

[cherrypicked for 3.6.0rc2]