easy_install looks very similar to my beloved ‘apt-get’ (Debian/Ubuntu) and ‘port’ on Mac OS X, however is for Python-based applications only. It is written, I believe, in Python, however, there does appear to be a Windows (Win32) installer (Wintards, I think you’ll need to install a Python runtime, afterwards, you can just go ahead and double-click, ;-) ).

Basically, for the un-initiated, this type of application, as the name suggests, allows you to install applications and libraries easily, or more correctly, quickly, usually by simply passing the name of the required package to the downloader. The downloader should then interrogate an *ample* repository of ready-to-go code, download and install it, and configure any additions necessary to get it working (i.e. it should just work straight away).

Easy_install was drawn to my attention by the possibility of install the Mercurial repository tool (‘hg’ command) onto Windows (yes, I’m sometimes forced to use it, C# dev you know, to earn a crust).