From: John Stone (johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu)
Date: Thu Mar 27 2008 - 18:11:20 CDT

Axel,
  Yes, that's correct. It should still be possible to compile
VMD against other versions, but Python 2.5 is what I'll be working
with. In regards to Python, it is now possible to compile VMD as
a shared library which can be loaded as a Python module. This isn't
documented to any extent yet, but the idea is that this is a better way
for people who have extensive time/energy invested in their local Python
installation to be able to utilize VMD in their analysis frameworks.
This was a nice feature contributed by Justin Gullingsrud, who is doing
a lot of Python-based analysis along with his colleauges at
D. E. Shaw Research. If people are interested in trying this, let me
know and I can put some effort into describing this in various docs.

Cheers,
  John

On Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 06:32:20PM -0400, Axel Kohlmeyer wrote:
> On Thu, 27 Mar 2008, John Stone wrote:
>
> john,
>
> i think this is a good time to also make people aware
> that you will also update the python interpreter to
> version 2.5, which has another set of implications for
> plugin writers and is (tkinter!) related to the tcl/Tk change.
>
> cheers,
> axel.
>
> JS>
> JS> Just FYI,
> JS> I will likely be changing the embedded Tcl interpreter
> JS> in upcoming test builds of VMD, and the next major release
> JS> to Tcl 8.5.1. This shouldn't cause any difficulties for anyone
> JS> other than people that have developed their own C/C++-based
> JS> plugins that directly add new commands into VMD
> JS> (e.g. psfgen, and similar plugins). Once I change from Tcl 8.4.x
> JS> to 8.5.x, any C/C++-based plugins that link against Tcl that you
> JS> make available to other VMD users will also need to be linked against
> JS> a matching version of Tcl. This is only a minor change in most
> JS> cases, but I thought it would be worth noting early-on so that
> JS> people can keep this in mind. I'm currently testing with Tcl 8.5.1
> JS> and will let people know when I've got the first test builds of VMD
> JS> for all platforms, so that users can begin giving us feedback.
> JS>
> JS> Cheers,
> JS> John Stone
> JS> vmd_at_ks.uiuc.edu
> JS>
> JS>
>
> --
> =======================================================================
> Axel Kohlmeyer akohlmey_at_cmm.chem.upenn.edu http://www.cmm.upenn.edu
> Center for Molecular Modeling -- University of Pennsylvania
> Department of Chemistry, 231 S.34th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6323
> tel: 1-215-898-1582, fax: 1-215-573-6233, office-tel: 1-215-898-5425
> =======================================================================
> If you make something idiot-proof, the universe creates a better idiot.

-- 
NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
University of Illinois, 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
Email: johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu                 Phone: 217-244-3349
  WWW: http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/      Fax: 217-244-6078