Is it possible to drop distlib dependency?

[frostming]

From the search result it seems distlib isn't critical and directly depended by the source code. So I am asking whether it is possible to drop it from the dependencies. It will reduce the package size of virtualenv since distlib is a rather large dependency.

[gaborbernat]

It's very critical - https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/blob/main/src/virtualenv/seed/embed/via_app_data/pip_install/base.py#L11 Your search query failed you there.

[frostming]

Ah yes, the search result misguided me.

[gaborbernat]

I don't think there's anything better as a replacement.

[gaborbernat]

This discussion has been answered. The distlib dependency is critical to virtualenv's functionality and is directly used in src/virtualenv/seed/embed/via_app_data/pip_install/base.py, so it cannot be dropped. Closing as answered.