ideas:

• simulation mode is useless nowodays
• pre-building winpython wheel may be done on external step
• doing the changelog based on the packages.ini is no more needed as pip can

build winpython wheel out of make.py:

• currently in utils.rebuild_winpython() called per make.py
• that is :
  • from winpython source directory
  • python -m flit build
  • copy result at %my_source_dirs%

If you move to MicroMamba all you need is the launchers and environment files + YAML file.
Wouldn't that make your life much much easier?

Just throwing ideas out there:

• Is running ensurepip needed on Windows? Don't the common Python installations on Windows, Python installer, nuget, Chocolatey and Microsoft Store, include pip? I guess running ensurepip is required for PyPy?
• I don't see where the two steps before "zip outside of make" are being done, but could the build directories be restructured to avoid extracting Python and re-installing setuptools, wheel and winpython again? Or maybe the zipping operation could be coded to skip some files?

EDIT:

• Why patch pip, update pip and then patch pip again? Can't pip be updated first, and then patch pip once before installing the other packages? Even if ensurepip is run, it doesn't seem like pip needs to be patched twice.

Just throwing ideas out there:

• Is running ensurepip needed on Windows? Don't the common Python installations on Windows, Python installer, nuget, Chocolatey and Microsoft Store, include pip? I guess running ensurepip is required for PyPy?

Yes, because of PyPy, ensurepip is to launch:
https://github.com/winpython/winpython/blob/master/make.py#L1971-L1973

• I don't see where the two steps before "zip outside of make" are being done, but could the build directories be restructured to avoid extracting Python and re-installing setuptools, wheel and winpython again? Or maybe the zipping operation could be coded to skip some files?

EDIT:

• Why patch pip, update pip and then patch pip again? Can't pip be updated first, and then patch pip once before installing the other packages? Even if ensurepip is run, it doesn't seem like pip needs to be patched twice.

pip is :

• updated to latest avoid the "there is a new version annoying message" when winPython is published
• and also because to have winpython movable, you need to patch pip before installing the rest
  https://github.com/winpython/winpython/blob/master/make.py#L1975

• [pip is] updated to latest avoid the "there is a new version annoying message" when winPython is published

I usually get the message anyway because of the sporadic minor releases. Probably a good idea to have the latest pip when you release though.

I'm asking about the duplication in patching pip at https://github.com/winpython/winpython/blob/master/make.py#L1975 and then again at https://github.com/winpython/winpython/blob/master/make.py#L1984 after upgrading pip, which is being done before the other packages are installed/upgraded. Is patching at 1984 not enough to make the distribution movable? Can the pre-patch at 1975 be removed?

a lot of rework has been done this winter 2024-2025 already