Missing setuptools dist_wheel to build a python package

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1

Hi,

I am trying to write a simple flake to package the lorem python package.

Here is my flake, with a simple shell to test it:

{
  description = "python-lorem python package";

  inputs = {
    nixpkgs.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs?ref=nixos-24.05";
  };

  outputs = { self, nixpkgs }: {

    packages.x86_64-linux.lorem = let
      pkgs = import nixpkgs { system = "x86_64-linux"; };
    in 
    pkgs.python3Packages.buildPythonPackage rec {
      pname = "python-lorem";
      version = "1.3.0.post3";

      src = pkgs.fetchFromGitHub {
        owner = "JarryShaw";
        repo = "lorem";
        rev = "v${version}";
        hash = "sha256-H43DujOJxUefYEHC5QuTtNksph67TGV76OIa/2xkq08=";
      };
      
      build-system = [ 
        pkgs.python3Packages.setuptools
        pkgs.python3Packages.wheel
      ];
    };

	devShells.x86_64-linux.default = let
      pkgs = import nixpkgs { system = "x86_64-linux"; };
    in
    pkgs.mkShell {
      packages = [
        (pkgs.python3.withPackages (ps: with ps; [
          self.packages.x86_64-linux.lorem
        ]))
      ];
    };

    packages.x86_64-linux.default = self.packages.x86_64-linux.lorem;
  };
}

With github:nixos/nixpkgs?ref=nixos-24.05 as input, the build fails with ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'setuptools.command.bdist_wheel', while it succeeds with input github:nixos/nixpkgs?ref=nixos-unstable.

Could someone explain why ? I’d be happy to have a solution to use this package with my python3 interpreter on Nixos-24.05.

NB: when making a shell with setuptools, the setuptools.caommand.bdist_wheel module is indeed available with nixpkgs-unstable and not with nixpkgs-24.05. There seem to be ongoing work on setuptools packaging in nixpkgs (see eg: python3Packages.setuptools, thrift: Fix setuptools to give thrift python 3.12 support by kfollesdal · Pull Request #328415 · NixOS/nixpkgs · GitHub) but I do not understand the technical points discussed in this post.

3

Per

the wheel package is meant to fix this error. If it’s not fixing this error, it appears to be a bug, that’s worth reporting on github. It’s possible that this was fixed in unstable and someone forgot to backport it (though since this is the release month, honestly you should just wait 3 weeks if you want to use stable, or use unstable now.)

what did you mean by “my interpreter” here?

4

Thanks for looking into this.
The flake above includes wheel in build-system. Should it be specified somewhere else ?

“My interpreter” simply refers to pkgs.python3. I mentioned it because, as an uneducated attempt, I tried building the lorem package with nixpkgs-unstable input and include it in my main configuration which uses nixpkgs-24.05. I could’n import lorem in the default interpreter, but I think it is because the lorem package comes with its own interpreter from nixpkgs-unstable.

I could indeed wait for 3 weeks, but I would prefer to at least understand what would be a proper fix. I want to overcome this recurrent ovewhelming feeling that I will never manage to tame Nix :stuck_out_tongue: