what does pip do to not suck? (programming.dev)

submitted 8 hours ago by irelephant@programming.dev to c/python@programming.dev

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I've been trying to get luarocks to work on windows, and all it gives is cryptic gcc errors.

How does pip manage to work on most platforms without issues?

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[-] gid@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 4 hours ago

If you're getting gcc errors it sounds like the package you're trying to install contains some c/c++ stuff that needs compiling.

A lot of python packages that rely on things written in c/c++ ship those precompiled, which might account for why it feels easier for you.

[-] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 17 points 7 hours ago

I'm surprised to hear you say this because in all honesty, pip really sucks as far as package managers go. uv is a worthy replacement.

[-] sus@programming.dev 2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

I think this is talking about basic functionality, eg. can you do basic stuff with a clean install without everything immediately breaking

There's a lot of programming tools that are primarily developed for and on linux, and "windows support" is an afterthought which will result in linux being a very frictionless experience but windows being a minefield of problems and requiring careful manual setup

[-] irelephant@programming.dev 2 points 5 hours ago

Compared to luarocks, pip is amazing.

[-] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 7 points 5 hours ago

Maybe so, but pip is years behind package managers like cargo. It really is not particularly good.

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago

Sure, and Luarocks is behind pip, and it really is particularly bad.

[-] gigachad@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 hours ago

pip cannot install some system dependencies your library might need. Windows is extra difficult sometimes, as the library might require some paths during installation, Linux is way easier for this kind of stuff. Either you use WSL, or you follow these instructions for Windows I found by googling https://github.com/luarocks/luarocks/blob/main/docs/installation_instructions_for_windows.md

I use Mint btw

[-] irelephant@programming.dev 1 points 5 hours ago

The instructions don't work half the time.

[-] Midnitte@beehaw.org 2 points 7 hours ago

I'd love to hear a technical answer, but one thing that's probably part of it is the fact that pip is written in Python and Python runs everywhere without much problem (though uv also seems to work pretty flawlessly too lol)