Basetools as a pip module

["Matthew Carlson" <matthewfcarlson@gmail.com>]

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Hello all,

A recent topic on the RFC mailing list went out and the work on moving
Basetools/Sources/Python to a separate repo has started. See the RFC
conversation here: https://edk2.groups.io/g/rfc/topic/74009714#270

The repo in question is here: https://github.com/tianocore/edk2-basetools

The current plan is shortly after the stable tag is created, a series of
patches will come into edk2 that redirects the build system into the new
python module as well as adds additional documentation. You can see a
sample of this work here: https://github.com/matthewfcarlson/edk2 as this
has a branch that has the work required to use the basetools pip module.
The patches won't delete the Basetools/Sources/Python folder but will allow
users to select between them. After a certain grace period, the python
folder will be deleted and the pip module will be the de facto way of using
basetools.

Three questions need to be answered:

1. After the patches that enable the pip module land, how long should the
grace period be?
2. During the grace period, should basetools commits land in both places or
just in the edk2-basetools directory?
3. How should the user be able to select which basetools to use (the one in
EDK2 or the pip module)? Currently the approach being considered is a
simple environmental variable? One of the key considerations is
transparency since it won't be apparent what is being used for a particular
build without some sort of mechanism to notify the developer. With two
seperate versions of Basetools, it becomes very easy for the version of
basetools you're using to not be the one you expect.

Thank you.
-Matthew Carlson

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