Windows registry path not ignored with -E option

[flashk]

BPO	8901
Nosy	@ncoghlan, @pitrou, @benjaminp, @merwok, @ericsnowcurrently, @zooba, @ZackerySpytz
PRs	bpo-8901: Windows registry path not ignored with the -E option #18169
Files	IgnoreWindowsRegistry_27.patch: Patch for 2.7 IgnoreWindowsRegistry_32.patch: Patch for 3.2

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = None
created_at = <Date 2010-06-05.02:39:23.706>
labels = ['interpreter-core', 'type-bug', '3.9']
title = 'Windows registry path not ignored with -E option'
updated_at = <Date 2020-03-30.16:06:33.221>
user = 'https://bugs.python.org/flashk'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2020-03-30.16:06:33.221>
actor = 'steve.dower'
assignee = 'none'
closed = False
closed_date = None
closer = None
components = ['Interpreter Core']
creation = <Date 2010-06-05.02:39:23.706>
creator = 'flashk'
dependencies = []
files = ['17558', '17559']
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 8901
keywords = ['patch', 'needs review']
message_count = 8.0
messages = ['107121', '107244', '108468', '216183', '216189', '365212', '365328', '365329']
nosy_count = 9.0
nosy_names = ['jpe', 'ncoghlan', 'pitrou', 'benjamin.peterson', 'eric.araujo', 'flashk', 'eric.snow', 'steve.dower', 'ZackerySpytz']
pr_nums = ['18169']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'fixed'
stage = 'commit review'
status = 'open'
superseder = None
type = 'behavior'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue8901'
versions = ['Python 3.9']

[flashk]

Hi,

I noticed that Python still uses the Windows registry to initialize sys.path, when the -E option is used.

From my understanding, this option is mostly used by programs that are running an embedded version of python, and don't want it to be affected by global installations. Ignoring the registry, along with environment variables, seems to be the correct behavior in this case.

I asked about this on the python-dev list (http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2010-June/100492.html) and was told to submit a patch for this if I wanted it fixed before the 2.7 release.

I've included a patch for 2.7 and 3.2

[merwok]

Looks good to me. Adding the release manager to the nosy list.

[flashk]

Any chance of getting this into 2.7 final? This fix is important for embedding Python in Windows applications.

[jpe]

Is still an issue with importlib? At this point, I don't think this change can be made on 2.7 or 3.2.

[pitrou]

I don't think importlib changed anything in that regard (since one of the goals was too keep compatibility with all the old behaviours).
Indeed the patch probably needs to be retargetted for 3.5.

[ZackerySpytz]

Steve, I've updated the pull request with the requested change. Please take a look.

[zooba]

New changeset 676b105 by Zackery Spytz in branch 'master':
bpo-8901: Windows registry path is now ignored with the -E option (GH-18169)
676b105

[zooba]

I'm 99% satisfied that this change is the right approach (rather than adding a new option), but we'll have to wait to hear from beta feedback I think.

My main concern is users who pass -E on the command line to avoid environment variables, but are relying on a Python install and not an embedded version. But for a regular install it should still find all the (site) libraries, so I think it'll be fine in basically every case.

[iritkatriel]

I think this can be closed.

[zooba]

Apparently we never heard any feedback, so yeah