OMMBV pip install started failing

[sapols]

Describe the bug
I'm not sure what changed but I'm no longer able to pip install OMMBV in various environments, including my personal MacBook and inside GitHub Actions. I first noticed this when the PyHC environment pipeline failed in GitHub trying to pip install OMMBV. The ultimate cause of the failure seems to be ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils.msvccompiler'.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Run pip install OMMBV

Expected behavior
I'd expect OMMBV to install but it fails.

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: macOS Sonoma & Ubuntu 22.04

Additional context
Here's the error output I keep getting:

Collecting OMMBV
  Installing build dependencies ... done
  Getting requirements to build wheel ... error
  error: subprocess-exited-with-error
  
  × Getting requirements to build wheel did not run successfully.
  │ exit code: 1
  ╰─> [33 lines of output]
      <string>:18: DeprecationWarning:
      
        `numpy.distutils` is deprecated since NumPy 1.23.0, as a result
        of the deprecation of `distutils` itself. It will be removed for
        Python >= 3.12. For older Python versions it will remain present.
        It is recommended to use `setuptools < 60.0` for those Python versions.
        For more details, see:
          https://numpy.org/devdocs/reference/distutils_status_migration.html
      
      
      Traceback (most recent call last):
        File "/Users/shpo9723/opt/anaconda3/envs/python_3_10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 353, in <module>
          main()
        File "/Users/shpo9723/opt/anaconda3/envs/python_3_10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 335, in main
          json_out['return_val'] = hook(**hook_input['kwargs'])
        File "/Users/shpo9723/opt/anaconda3/envs/python_3_10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 118, in get_requires_for_build_wheel
          return hook(config_settings)
        File "/private/var/folders/4f/t664wvxn4nd8864qfqwknh7r008q5h/T/pip-build-env-9wawv888/overlay/lib/python3.10/site-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 332, in get_requires_for_build_wheel
          return self._get_build_requires(config_settings, requirements=[])
        File "/private/var/folders/4f/t664wvxn4nd8864qfqwknh7r008q5h/T/pip-build-env-9wawv888/overlay/lib/python3.10/site-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 302, in _get_build_requires
          self.run_setup()
        File "/private/var/folders/4f/t664wvxn4nd8864qfqwknh7r008q5h/T/pip-build-env-9wawv888/overlay/lib/python3.10/site-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 503, in run_setup
          super().run_setup(setup_script=setup_script)
        File "/private/var/folders/4f/t664wvxn4nd8864qfqwknh7r008q5h/T/pip-build-env-9wawv888/overlay/lib/python3.10/site-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 318, in run_setup
          exec(code, locals())
        File "<string>", line 18, in <module>
        File "/private/var/folders/4f/t664wvxn4nd8864qfqwknh7r008q5h/T/pip-build-env-9wawv888/overlay/lib/python3.10/site-packages/numpy/distutils/core.py", line 24, in <module>
          from numpy.distutils.command import config, config_compiler, \
        File "/private/var/folders/4f/t664wvxn4nd8864qfqwknh7r008q5h/T/pip-build-env-9wawv888/overlay/lib/python3.10/site-packages/numpy/distutils/command/config.py", line 19, in <module>
          from numpy.distutils.mingw32ccompiler import generate_manifest
        File "/private/var/folders/4f/t664wvxn4nd8864qfqwknh7r008q5h/T/pip-build-env-9wawv888/overlay/lib/python3.10/site-packages/numpy/distutils/mingw32ccompiler.py", line 27, in <module>
          from distutils.msvccompiler import get_build_version as get_build_msvc_version
      ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils.msvccompiler'
      [end of output]
  
  note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
error: subprocess-exited-with-error

× Getting requirements to build wheel did not run successfully.
│ exit code: 1
╰─> See above for output.

note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.

[sapols]

I'll note that changing my setuptools version didn't seem to help (I tried <60.0 as the warning suggests, and upgrading to the latest) and I don't believe the numpy version is crucial either because it used to install fine with 1.26.4 but now fails with 1.26.4 still.

[rstoneback]

Hi Shawn. Thanks for the report. The issue is driven by numpy's deprecation of distutils as well as a lack of funding from NASA. While an unfortunate situation, given the lack of NASA funding, updating the code for public consumption must have the lowest of priorities.

[rstoneback]

Pull request #63 updated the build system to Meson. The next upcoming release should start working again with the latest python, numpy, etc. I will also be incorporating IGRF14.

[rstoneback]

I've been trying to get this released but the switch away from distutils over to Meson continues to hold things up. Anyway, while tests run and pass the reported coverage is zero. The issue is the compiled Fortran. To get tests to actually use the installed and compiled package I have to delete the source repo. I believe the lack of the repo is part of the reason the system reports no tested files over to coveralls. I haven't been able to sort out a way through. The work is in #64 if you have any time to take a look yourself.

[rstoneback]

So I was able to sort out the coveralls situation. Anyway, moving forward with the release. #65

[rstoneback]

The latest code has been released into main! Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, Coveralls isn't reporting test coverage for the main or develop branches, but it did report coverage for the v1.1.0 RC branch. OMMBV main, develop, and v1.1.0 RC code are the same. I've sent a support email to Coveralls to see if they can help me track down the issue.

[rstoneback]

Good news, I've released the latest version here and I uploaded a source distribution to PyPi. Please let me know if it doesn't work, especially on the NASA heliocloud server.

The bad news, this whole process reminded me of NASA's exploitive relationship with scientists 👎