EPD – The Kitchen-Sink-Included Python Distribution

The team here at Enthought has just released the Enthought Python Distribution (EPD):

EPD is a Distribution of the Python Programming Language (currently version 2.5.2) that includes over 60 additional libraries. A short list includes (note, this is a partial list):

Package Description Version
Python Core Python 2.5.2
NumPy Multidimensional arrays and fast numerics for Python 1.0.4
SciPy Scientific Library for Python 0.6.0
Enthought Tool Suite (ETS) A suite of applications and components which may be used to build rich interactive applications. 2.7.1
Traits Manifest typing, validation, visualization, delegation, etc. 2.0.4
Mayavi 3D interactive data exploration environment. 2.1.1
Chaco Advanced 2D plotting toolkit for interactive 2D visualization. 2.0.4
Kiva 2D drawing library in the spirit of DisplayPDF. 2.0.3
Enable Object-based canvas for interacting with 2D components and widgets. 2.0.4
Matplotlib 2D plotting library 0.91.2
wxPython Cross-platform windowing and widget library. 2.8.4.0
Visualization Toolkit (VTK) 3D visualization framework 5.0.3
Click here for the complete list of libraries.

The currently supported platforms are:

Windows Windows XP x86

RedHat Linux RedHat EL 3.x amd64

OS X and Ubuntu will be released very shortly (!).

So what’s the big deal?

In addition to making everyones’ life easier with installation, EPD also represents a common suite of functionality deployed across platforms. The cross-platform promise of Python is better realized because it’s trivial for everyone to get substantially the same set of libraries installed on their system with a single-click install.

What’s the catch?

You knew it was coming, huh? If you’d like to use EPD in a Commercial or Governmental entity, we do ask you to pay for an annual subscription to download and update EPD. For academics and non-profit, private-sector organizations, EPD is and will remain free. Let’s be clear, though. EPD is the bundle of software. People pay for the subscription to download the bundle. The included libraries are, of course, freely available separately under the terms of license for each individual package (this should sound familiar). The terms for the bundle subscription are available here. BTW, anyone can try it out for free for 30 days.

If you have questions, check out the FAQ or drop us a line — email us any feedback as well.

And just one more note:
Enthought is deeply grateful to all those who have contributed to these libraries over the years. We’ve built a business around the things they allow us to do and we appreciate such a nice set of tools and the privilege of being part of the community that created them.

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