standard-distutils
Standard library distutils redistribution. "dead battery".
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, but only as a temporary bridge for legacy code. Install it if you have a project that still imports distutils and you cannot immediately migrate to setuptools or another build tool. Do not rely on it for new projects or expect it to receive updates—the package is dormant and explicitly does not work on Python 3.13. Plan a migration away from distutils as part of your upgrade path.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Does not work on Python 3.13; intended for Python 3.11–3.12 only.
- Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel.
- However, the package is dormant (last release 653 days ago) and explicitly marked as not working on Python 3.13, which limits its forward compatibility.
License · maintenance · safety
PSF-2.0 (permissive) — Licensed under PSF-2.0 (permissive), the same license as Python itself, so there are no licensing barriers to use.
last release 2024-10-30 (653 days) · last repo commit 2025-01-27 · 37 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 188,504 downloads/mo, #9,943 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install standard-distutils
import distutils.core
setup = distutils.core.setup- Whether this package works reliably on Python versions between 3.11 and 3.12, or only on specific minor versions
- What specific compatibility issues exist on Python 3.13 and whether they are fixable
What it is and what it does
This package redistributes the distutils module, which Python removed from its standard library as part of PEP 594 ("Removing dead batteries from the standard library"). It allows projects that still depend on distutils to install it as a third-party package rather than being forced to migrate to setuptools or other build tools.
The package contains a minimal, archive-focused implementation with no active feature development. It is intended as a compatibility shim for legacy codebases, not as a long-term replacement for modern Python packaging tools. The maintainer explicitly discourages feature requests and recommends that users seek actively maintained alternatives if they need more than basic compatibility.
Use it for
- Maintain legacy projects that import distutils without immediately migrating to setuptools or modern packaging tools
- Provide temporary compatibility for older codebases during a gradual transition away from distutils
- Support continuous integration pipelines that run on Python versions before distutils was removed
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, but only as a temporary bridge for legacy code.
Install it if you have a project that still imports distutils and you cannot immediately migrate to setuptools or another build tool. Do not rely on it for new projects or expect it to receive updates—the package is dormant and explicitly does not work on Python 3.13. Plan a migration away from distutils as part of your upgrade path.
Install
standard-distutils on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel. However, the package is dormant (last release 653 days ago) and explicitly marked as not working on Python 3.13, which limits its forward compatibility.
Does not work on Python 3.13; intended for Python 3.11–3.12 only.
License in practice
Licensed under PSF-2.0 (permissive), the same license as Python itself, so there are no licensing barriers to use.
Quickstart
pip install standard-distutils
import distutils.core
setup = distutils.core.setupVerify before relying
- Whether this package works reliably on Python versions between 3.11 and 3.12, or only on specific minor versions
- What specific compatibility issues exist on Python 3.13 and whether they are fixable
Package facts
| License | PSF-2.0 permissive |
| Python support | Not specified |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Dormant 653 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 188,504 / month, #9,943 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | License :: OSI Approved :: Python Software Foundation LicenseProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries |
Evidence: standard_distutils-3.11.9-py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “distutils redistribution”
- standard-distutilsProvides the distutils module from Python's standard library as an…
- verlib2Provides standalone version comparison and parsing for PEP 386 and…
- standard-sunauProvides the sunau module, a standard library audio file handler…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Libraries packages
urllib3 is an HTTP client library that provides thread-safe connection pooling, SSL/TLS verification, multipart file uploads, request retries, compression support, and proxy handling for Python applications.
Requests is a Python HTTP library that simplifies sending HTTP/1.1 requests with automatic handling of headers, authentication, cookies, and response parsing.
Pluggy provides a plugin system that lets you define hook specifications and register implementations to be called in sequence, enabling extensible Python applications without tight coupling.
Install it if you're building an extensible application or framework.
Provides parsing, arithmetic, and recurrence rule computation for dates and times, with timezone support and iCalendar RFC compliance.
Install it if you need to parse flexible date strings, compute relative dates, handle timezones, or work with recurrence rules—it's the de facto choice for these tasks.
Six provides utility functions to write Python code that runs on both Python 2.7 and Python 3.3+, smoothing over language differences between the two versions.
pytest is a testing framework that lets you write test functions using plain assert statements and automatically discovers and runs them, with detailed failure reporting.
See also standard-imghdr · standard-sunau · standard-telnetlib · standard-aifc · standard-chunk · legacy-cgi · distribute · verlib2 · setuptools · stdeb