distribute

distribute legacy wrapper

distribute v0.7.3 83.5K downloads/30d#14,068 on PyPI

Permissive license PSF or ZPL Abandoned released 2013-07-05

What it is and what it does

Distribute was a compatibility shim created to bridge the gap between the old distribute package and Setuptools. It acts as a thin wrapper that, when installed, ensures Setuptools 0.7 or later is available on the system. The package was designed during a period when distribute and setuptools were separate projects, and it served as a migration path for users.

Today, distribute is a historical artifact. Setuptools and distutils have long since merged, and modern Python development relies directly on setuptools or modern build backends. Installing distribute now is almost never the right choice—it exists only to satisfy legacy constraints in very old projects that explicitly require the distribute package name.

Use it for:

Satisfying a legacy dependency constraint in a very old Python 2 project that explicitly requires 'distribute' by name
Porting an unmaintained Python 2 codebase that cannot be updated to use setuptools directly
Resolving a build failure in a frozen, archived project where the distribute package is hard-coded in setup.py

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Distribute is a legacy compatibility wrapper that installs Setuptools 0.7+ as a drop-in replacement for the older distribute package.

No. Do not install distribute in new projects. It is abandoned (last release 2013-07-05) and serves no purpose in modern Python development. If you encounter it as a dependency, upgrade the dependent package or remove the constraint. If you are maintaining legacy Python 2 code, use setuptools directly instead.

Install

distribute on PyPI

pip

pip install distribute

uv

uv add distribute

poetry

poetry add distribute

Installing distribute

Before you install

High install friction due to a legacy .zip distribution format. The package has been abandoned for many years with no recent maintenance, making it unsuitable for new projects.

License in practice

Licensed under PSF or ZPL (permissive), so there are no legal restrictions on use, but the abandoned status makes licensing guarantees moot.

Quickstart

pip install distribute==0.7.3
# This installs Setuptools 0.7+ as a replacement

This package is abandoned and will not work correctly on modern Python versions or current system environments despite its classifiers.

Verify before relying

Whether this package still functions correctly with modern Python versions despite classifiers claiming support for Python 2.4–3.3
Whether installing this package on modern systems actually delivers a working Setuptools 0.7+ installation
Whether the .zip distribution format creates compatibility issues on current package management tooling

Package facts

License	PSF or ZPL (permissive)
Python support	not specified
Install friction	high — source build required
Runtime dependencies	none
Maintenance	abandoned — 4,788 days since the last release
First released	2011-09-22
Downloads	83,537/month — #14,068 on PyPI (30-day window, as of 2026-08-14)
Known vulnerabilities	none known (OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14)

Evidence: distribute-0.7.3.zip

Keywords: CPAN, PyPI, distutils, eggs, package, management

Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: Python Software Foundation LicenseLicense :: OSI Approved :: Zope Public LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 2.4Programming Language :: Python :: 2.5Programming Language :: Python :: 2.6Programming Language :: Python :: 2.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.1Programming Language :: Python :: 3.2Programming Language :: Python :: 3.3Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTopic :: System :: Archiving :: PackagingTopic :: System :: Systems AdministrationTopic :: Utilities