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I have a python package targeted at linux machines that needs to install its locale files to an accessible location. Right now, I have them being installed to sys.prefix + "/share/locale/".

However, I found a small caveat with Ubuntu and pip. Under default conditions, Ubuntu installs packages installed with pip to /usr/local and sets sys.prefix to that during installation. However, after installation, when the package is run, the prefix is /usr, meaning my code can't find the locale files installed at /usr/local.

I could simply hardcode the location, but I would prefer not to do this, as it makes the package less portable and would require the user to install it as root. These are added as data_files in setup.py and won't be discoverable as a python package.

How else can I ensure my package can find my the locale files after installation?

I thought about adding a line to the package's __init__.py during installation, which created a variable pointing to the locale dir's location. However, it did not seem trivial to edit files being installed without changing the source files.

This is a python 3 only package.

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  • Are you sure you don't have two Pythons — in /usr/local/bin and in /usr/bin? I don't believe Python changes sys.prefix that way. But 2 different Pythons may have 2 different prefixes. Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 14:14
  • @phd find `echo $PATH | tr ':' " " -name python3` only shows /usr/bin/python3. I'm guessing this happens because Ubuntu wants the files installed by the user with pip to go to /usr/local so it changes the prefix, but it then needs to change it back for the main machine, Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 14:38

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Maybe use the resource functions available in pkg_resources to find the files?

from pkg_resources import resource_stream, resource_filename
with resource_stream('my_package', 'locale/foo.dat') as infp:
    # ...
# ... or ...
foo_location = resource_filename('my_package', 'locale/foo.dat')
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5 Comments

So how would this help me if I don't know the path to the files? These are data files, they won't be in a package.
Point is they should be in your package hierarchy if they're data files that your package requires.
Really? Locale files are supposed to go under /usr/share/locale (at least under debian). I don't think it would be appropriate to make that a package. I also am compiling .po to .mo files with gettext, so adding it as package data is a little annoying, but I guess possible.
Okay, I thought we were talking about generic Python packages, not Debian packages :) I have to admit I don't really know much about Debian packaging.
It is a generic python package, which I am also evantually packaging in Debian. The point is, setup.py should be able to install to a different directory. I'm guessing I'll have to add it as package data and just keep it in the module directory. Thanks for your help.

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