It's a packaging, or "distribution", of Python, with some extras -- not (anywhere) quite as "Sumo" as Enthought'shuge distribution of "Python plus everything", but still in a similar vein (and it first appeared much earlier).
I don't think you're missing anything in particular, except perhaps the fact that David Ascher (Python enthusiast and my coauthor in the Python Cookbook) used to be CTO at ActiveState (and so no doubt internally pushed Python to go with other dynamic languages ActiveState focuses on), but he's gone now (he's CEO at the Mozilla-owned firm that deals with email and similar forms of communication -- Thunderbird and the like, in terms of programs).
No doubt some firms prefer to purchase a distribution with commercially available support contracts, like ActivePython, just because that's the way some purchasing departments in several enterprises (and/or their IT departments) are used to work. Unless you care about such issues, I don't think you're missing anything by giving ActiveState's Python distribution a pass;-).
(I feel similarly about costly Enterprise distributions of Linux, vs. Debian or Ubuntu or the like -- but then I'm not in purchasing, nor in an IT department, nor do I work for a very traditional enterprise anyway;-) )
ActiveState has a long tradition contributing Windows support to Python, Tcl, and Perl: by hiring key developers (like Mark Hammond, for some time), by fixing bugs specific to Windows, and having employees contribute fixes back, and by being sponsors of the Python Software Foundation.
While it is true that the distribution they produce is fairly similar to mine, it's as RichieHindle says: you can get paid support from ActiveState (but not from me).
The main feature is that you can buy a paid support contract for it.
Why does Red Hat Enterprise Linux exist when you can compile everything yourself? 8-)
For many businesses, the combination of proven Open Source software and a support contract from people who build, package and test that software, is an excellent proposition.
I've been using ActivePerl for years and when I made the switch to Python, I very naturally downloaded ActivePython.
I never had any problems with the Active* distributions - they're robust, come with a few useful libraries, like PyWin32, that the vanilla core Python doesn't have. They also come bundled with a .CHM Python documentation compilation that's very useful.
Mostly those details are still true. Also, all the other responses I've seen to this question are fair.
Note that as of release 2.6.3.7 ActivePython includes PyPM (similar to PPM for ActivePerl) to help with installing Python packages -- the hoped for benefit over "easy_install" and "pip" (and others) to be the installation of popular binary packages.
ActiveState will also be supporting Python 2.7 while the standard Python 2.7 will no longer be supported in 2020. If you have a large codebase that won't be migrated in time, you'll need to make security patches yourself or go with something like ActiveState Python.
发布评论
评论（6）
它是 Python 的一个包装或“发行版”，带有一些额外功能——（在任何地方）都不像 Enthought 的 巨大“Python 加一切”的分布，但仍然具有类似的风格（而且它第一次出现的时间要早得多）。
我认为你没有遗漏任何特别的东西，除了 David Ascher（Python 爱好者和我在 Python Cookbook 中的合著者）曾经担任 ActiveState 的 CTO（因此毫无疑问在内部推动 Python 与其他动态技术一起发展） ActiveState 关注的语言），但他现在已经走了（他是 Mozilla 旗下一家处理电子邮件和类似通信形式的公司的首席执行官 - Thunderbird之类，就程序而言）。
毫无疑问，一些公司更喜欢购买带有商业支持合同的发行版，例如 ActivePython，只是因为这是一些企业（和/或其 IT 部门）的某些采购部门的工作方式。除非您关心此类问题，否则我认为您通过 ActiveState 的 Python 发行版不会错过任何东西；-)。
（我对昂贵的 Linux 企业发行版与 Debian 或 Ubuntu 或类似的东西 - 但我不是在购买，也不是在IT 部门，反正我也不是在非常传统的企业工作；-) )
It's a packaging, or "distribution", of Python, with some extras -- not (anywhere) quite as "Sumo" as Enthought's huge distribution of "Python plus everything", but still in a similar vein (and it first appeared much earlier).
I don't think you're missing anything in particular, except perhaps the fact that David Ascher (Python enthusiast and my coauthor in the Python Cookbook) used to be CTO at ActiveState (and so no doubt internally pushed Python to go with other dynamic languages ActiveState focuses on), but he's gone now (he's CEO at the Mozilla-owned firm that deals with email and similar forms of communication -- Thunderbird and the like, in terms of programs).
No doubt some firms prefer to purchase a distribution with commercially available support contracts, like ActivePython, just because that's the way some purchasing departments in several enterprises (and/or their IT departments) are used to work. Unless you care about such issues, I don't think you're missing anything by giving ActiveState's Python distribution a pass;-).
(I feel similarly about costly Enterprise distributions of Linux, vs. Debian or Ubuntu or the like -- but then I'm not in purchasing, nor in an IT department, nor do I work for a very traditional enterprise anyway;-) )
ActiveState 有着为 Python、Tcl 和 Perl 提供 Windows 支持的悠久传统：通过雇用关键开发人员（例如 Mark Hammond，有一段时间）、修复特定于 Windows 的错误、让员工回馈修复程序以及成为项目的赞助商。 Python 软件基础。
虽然他们生成的发行版确实与我的非常相似，但正如 RichieHindle 所说：您可以从 ActiveState 获得付费支持（但不能从我那里获得）。
ActiveState has a long tradition contributing Windows support to Python, Tcl, and Perl: by hiring key developers (like Mark Hammond, for some time), by fixing bugs specific to Windows, and having employees contribute fixes back, and by being sponsors of the Python Software Foundation.
While it is true that the distribution they produce is fairly similar to mine, it's as RichieHindle says: you can get paid support from ActiveState (but not from me).
主要特点是您可以为其购买付费支持合同。
当您可以自己编译所有内容时，为什么还要存在红帽企业 Linux？ 8-)
对于许多企业来说，经过验证的开源软件与构建、打包和测试该软件的人员提供的支持合同相结合是一个很好的建议。
The main feature is that you can buy a paid support contract for it.
Why does Red Hat Enterprise Linux exist when you can compile everything yourself? 8-)
For many businesses, the combination of proven Open Source software and a support contract from people who build, package and test that software, is an excellent proposition.
我已经使用 ActivePerl 多年了，当我切换到 Python 时，我很自然地下载了 ActivePython。
我从来没有遇到过 Active* 发行版的任何问题 - 它们很强大，附带一些有用的库，例如 PyWin32，普通核心 Python 没有。它们还捆绑了非常有用的 .CHM Python 文档编译。
I've been using ActivePerl for years and when I made the switch to Python, I very naturally downloaded ActivePython.
I never had any problems with the Active* distributions - they're robust, come with a few useful libraries, like PyWin32, that the vanilla core Python doesn't have. They also come bundled with a .CHM Python documentation compilation that's very useful.
这是我很久以前写的一封写给 python-list 的电子邮件：
https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2007-July/456660.html
大多数情况下这些细节仍然是正确的。另外，我看到的对这个问题的所有其他回答都是公平的。
请注意，从版本 2.6.3.7 开始，ActivePython 包含 PyPM （类似于 ActivePerl 的 PPM）来帮助安装Python包——希望比“easy_install”和“pip”（以及其他）受益的是流行的二进制包的安装。
Here is an email to python-list I wrote on this a long while ago:
https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2007-July/456660.html
Mostly those details are still true. Also, all the other responses I've seen to this question are fair.
Note that as of release 2.6.3.7 ActivePython includes PyPM (similar to PPM for ActivePerl) to help with installing Python packages -- the hoped for benefit over "easy_install" and "pip" (and others) to be the installation of popular binary packages.
ActiveState 还将支持 Python 2.7，而标准 Python 2.7 将在 2020 年不再受支持。如果您有一个无法及时迁移的大型代码库，您需要自己制作安全补丁或使用 ActiveState 之类的工具Python。
ActiveState will also be supporting Python 2.7 while the standard Python 2.7 will no longer be supported in 2020. If you have a large codebase that won't be migrated in time, you'll need to make security patches yourself or go with something like ActiveState Python.