[Docs] fully replace python.org/distutils docs

[jacalata]

Summary

https://docs.python.org/3/distutils/setupscript.html comes up high in a search, looks like authoritative official guidance on the best way to configure a python project, and it tells people to use setup.py

This page says it will go away when all of the information is available in setuptools documentation:

Note This document is being retained solely until the setuptools documentation at https://setuptools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/setuptools.html independently covers all of the relevant information currently included here.

Additional Information

Not all the documentation should be retained in the setuptools docs.

To break the work up, here are the chapters in distutils docs, and roughly equivalent page in setuptools, if one exists.

• 1. An Introduction to Distutils](https://docs.python.org/3/distutils/introduction.html)
  ?

• 2. Writing the Setup Script](https://docs.python.org/3/distutils/setupscript.html)
  ?

• 3. Writing the Setup Configuration File](https://docs.python.org/3/distutils/configfile.html)
  https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/declarative_config.html

• 4. Creating a Source Distribution](https://docs.python.org/3/distutils/sourcedist.html)
  https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/miscellaneous.html

• 5 Creating Built Distributions](https://docs.python.org/3/distutils/builtdist.html)

• 6. Distutils Examples](https://docs.python.org/3/distutils/examples.html)
  https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/quickstart.html?

• 7. Extending Distutils](https://docs.python.org/3/distutils/extending.html)
  https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/extension.html

• 8. Command Reference](https://docs.python.org/3/distutils/commandref.html)

• 9 API Reference](https://docs.python.org/3/distutils/apiref.html)

Actually deciding the docs are ready for deletion has to be done by that team, this will be tracked at python/cpython#94249

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow the PSF Code of Conduct

[CAM-Gerlach]

Unfortunately, the fact that these docs still exist in Python proper means users are getting fed a lot of very outdated information, and many may not see the messages and be pointed to Setuptools as they should be.

Now that distutils is being completely removed from the stdlib in 3.12, it seems reasonable to remove that documentation in the Python 3.12 version docs, or at least convert it to stub pages (to avoid breaking external links) that redirect users to the relevant, up to date Setuptools documentation, For the sections that don't yet have direct equivalents, Setuptools Alternatively, if the Setuptools team wants to take them over and maintain them (or some of them), they could be added here and redirected there.

To note, users won't actually see this for another full year, so Setuptools would have until then to find suitable replacements to link the remaining sections to, and users will always be able to switch to an older version of the docs to see them as they were.