Incorrect data_files location using distutils

The distutils documentation specifies that when the target directory for data_files is a 开发者_如何学JAVArelative path, the files will be installed relative to sys.prefix. On my system (Linux Mint), this is /usr; however, the data_files are instead installing to /usr/local.

How can I correct this without losing cross-platform support?

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This is an Ubuntu / Linux mint related issue, they default to /usr/local instead of /usr.

[1] http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1121501

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Are you trying to 1) install someone else's program or 2) write a setup.py yourself?

If 1), are you appending --prefix=/usr/local when invoking python setup.py? If so, installation prefix will become /usr/local, to which the data files will be installed relative.

If 2), check out the value of sys.prefix & sys.exec_prefix (or post the relating part of your setup.py).

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First, you should check the sys.prefix for the Python you use to run the setup script.

Second, check distutils configuration files (one is distutils.cfg in the Python standard library directory (yuck, I know), another is ~/.pydistutils.cfg, the last is the optional setup.cfg that follows setup.py).