Python distutils not using correct version of gcc

Question

I am trying to compile a package on Mac OSX 10.6.5. The package\'s install script relies on distutils. The problem is that the computer\'s default gcc is version 4.2 (I de

Answer 1

To force distutils to use a separate compiler, you can redefine a few variables via the environment. First, find out what distutils is using as defaults:

>>> from distutils import sysconfig
>>> sysconfig.get_config_var('LDSHARED')
'gcc-4.0 -Wl,-F. -bundle -undefined dynamic_lookup'
>>> sysconfig.get_config_var('CC')
'gcc-4.0'

Next you need to redefine those, substituting in the version of gcc you'd like to use:

% LDSHARED="gcc-4.2 -Wl,-F. -bundle -undefined dynamic_lookup" CC=gcc-4.2 \
    /usr/bin/python setup.py build_ext

Keep in mind that the sysconfig defaults are pulled from the Makefile which was originally used to compile python, so fudging with them may produce unintended results:

>>> path = sysconfig.get_python_lib(plat_specific=1, standard_lib=1)
>>> os.path.join(path, 'config', 'Makefile')
'/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/lib/python2.6/config/Makefile'