Although the turtledemo modules are not run directly during by "make test" or by "python -m test -uall", they are currently being inadvertently imported by test___all__. This can lead to test failures and side effects because some of the turtledemo modules execute code on import, rather than only when being run via calls to their main() functions. A quick glance shows problems with the following demos: clock (calls mode("logo") which causes a window to appear), colormixer (which unconditionally calls sys.setrecursionlimit()), and two_canvases (which is not structured using functions at all). Depending on how tests are run, these problems can cause serious side effects.

At a minimum,

1. test___all__ should be changed to exclude turtledemo modules.

It would also be nice to make the demos better citizens:
2. move the mode() call to main() in clock
3. move the setrecursionlimit call to main() and save and restore the original value on exit
4. restructure two_canvases to be like the other demos.
5. double-check all demos for other cases where interpreter state is changed and not restored.

1. test___all__ should be changed to exclude turtledemo modules.

Agreed. In general, the test suite shouldn't open any GUI windows except if the "gui" resource is enabled (which isn't the default).
The turtledemo behaviour is quite new in that regard.

6. Add 'good citizenship' note to demohelp.txt. Also point out that all turtle initialiazation should be in main anyway (see 2. and 3. below). Demo should run independently of what other demos do.

re 2: If the mode call is needed, it is a bug that it is not main() as another demo could change it.

re 3: ditto, though much less likely.

re 4: As mentioned in bpo-14117, two_canvases is buggy in that the code is not displayed. I added a comment in the file about things that don't work. A main function is the next thing to try anyway.

If no one does the turtledemo changes, I probably will soon.

I am working on the turtle demos now. Victor gave more info in bpo-21884.

I was partly wrong in my comments. turtledemo uses reload to re-initialize demos when one switches between them. I am tempted to remove this as part of discouraging side-effects on import. It is not a good example to be followed.

New changeset c173a34f20c0 by Terry Jan Reedy in branch '2.7':
Issue bpo-21882: In turtle demos, remove module scope gui and sys calls by
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/c173a34f20c0

New changeset fcfa9c5a00fd by Terry Jan Reedy in branch '3.4':
Issue bpo-21882: In turtle demos, remove module scope gui and sys calls by
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/fcfa9c5a00fd

2. Done

3. I just removed the setrecursionlimit call, added for 3.0. I moved the colormixer sliders around for longer than anyone is likely to and it ran fine.

4. two-canvases works fine now. The extra window just has to be clicked away.

5. nim had a call to turtle.Screen, now in main().

6. Done
   Let's see what the buildbots say.

7. Since demos are part of the delivered stdlib, it could be argued that they should get minimal sanity check of being importable. I don't care either way. I leave this to either of you.

The __all__ test now passes on Snow Leapard.

I opened bpo-22051 about removing reload to force better code. Since the tests are passing and I think the demo modules should be minimally tested by importing, and no one has said otherwise since the fix, I am closing this.