by MTKnife » Tue Sep 17, 2019 4:41 am
Actually, I just checked, and the current version doesn't use an executable at all--it's pure Python. However, earlier versions used a compiled executable for part of the app--it drove be crazy for a bit because I couldn't find part of the code.
In any case, even if you were using an executable to call the Python...you could do exactly that to do what Dragonshair was asking you about.
You can argue all you want, but the answer you gave him was essentially wrong: yes, an "exe" file is, by definition, limited to Windows, but applications use multiple versions of executables for different OS's all the time. Thus, while you were technically correct that creating only an "exe" would leave non-Windows users out in the cold, that statement of fact missed the broader point that, were you to create a Windows executable, you'd probably create equivalent ones for OSX and Linux. That's not "confusing for non power users"--it's the way most commercial and even open-source apps are installed. It is, however, more work for the (volunteer) developer than creating just the Python scripts.