[cdavid]

If you want qt, I would say your best bet is one of the full python distribution for scientific python, e.g. winPython, python(x, y), EPD, Anaconda. Everybody working on one of this is a user of ipython, and care about the notebook, and most of them have a free version available (free as no cost, not necessarily open source)

(disclaimer, I work for Enthought, which sells EPD)

[andybak]

The free version of Enthought solved a bunch of problems for me on OSX. It bundles a lot of the binary libraries that are a bitch to compile yourself.

[simonh]

I've had a Mac at home since 2007 and had a go at doing some python programming on it a few years ago and gave up. I got 2.7 installed, virtualenv, even Qt but eventually a few things broke and I ended up switching to programming in a Linux VM.

I might have another go now I've got a shiny new Mini with ML on it. If i have problems I'll give Enthought a try.

Given the popularity of OSX with developers it's shocking how few Python libraries have good OSX binary packages. A few times I've found the easiest platform to work on is actually Windows. For example with PySide for a long time the binaries in all the Linux repos were out of date, OSX support was intermittently flaky, but the Windows installer was complete and up to date.

Yes I know you can compile from source, but I am a Python programmer. I develop software in Python, not C. I wonder if the poor state of binary packages for OSX is actually because it's a Unix variant. i.e. module developers deliberately choose not to do binary OSX builds because hey, the users can just compile from source. No, we can't all compile from source. We're not all C hackers, that's why many of us use Python in the first place. </entitled rant>

[darkarmani]

(disclaimer: I work for Continum Analytics)

Anaconda Community Edition installs very easily on windows, linux, and OS X, and is very easy to uninstall without breaking your system.

> No, we can't all compile from source. We're not all C hackers, that's why many of us use Python in the first place.

EXACTLY!

This is the whole idea behind Anaconda and the idea behind our beta cloud product Wakari. Wakari gives you multiple python versions, multiple numpy versions, interactive plotting in your browser, and the wonderful ipython notebook built-in. It's still in a closed beta, but people usually get approved for access the same day.

[cdavid]

Glad it is working for you. I have now just started working on it, so let me know if there are things you'd like to see improved.