# Where the name "Wheel" comes from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Packaging\ **Created:** [January 18, 2021, 7:04am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708 "2021-01-18T07:04:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrMino](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/mrmino/32/3322_2.png) [@MrMino](https://discuss.python.org/u/MrMino)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 7:04am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/1 "2021-01-18T07:04:18Z")
For the last 6 months my work revolved around topics related to Python packaging, PEP-427, build systems and the like. Soon I’ll have to share the knowledge to other members of my team. It just dawned on me, that I have no idea where the name for the packaging format - “Wheel” - comes from and what it’s supposed to mean. Is it a noun? A verb? I won’t be able to sleep peacefully until I get to know the answer 😉. There’s nothing in the the [PEP](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0427/) about it. The mailing list isn’t of much help here - the only mention of the rationale behind the name being, quote, [“because newegg was taken”](https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2013-February/124088.html). Anyone able to shed some light on this? ---
**Author:** ![bernatgabor](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/bernatgabor/32/3003_2.png) [@bernatgabor](https://discuss.python.org/u/bernatgabor)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 7:23am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/2 "2021-01-18T07:23:36Z")
The langue is named after the Monty Python show, and as such much naming is taken from there. PyPi in its initial state was named cheese shop, as the famous part in the show [Monty Python- Cheese Shop - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1JWzyvv8A). Because initially it only hosted links to the packages, so it was empty like that shop. And within a cheese shop what do you store? Wheels of cheese. Hence the name wheels. More about this has been presented within @dustin talk - [https://youtu.be/AQsZsgJ30AE?t=886](https://youtu.be/AQsZsgJ30AE?t=886). ---
**Author:** ![MrMino](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/mrmino/32/3322_2.png) [@MrMino](https://discuss.python.org/u/MrMino)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 7:25am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/3 "2021-01-18T07:25:53Z")
I wasn’t using Python at the time PyPI had the previous name, now it seems obvious. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![bernatgabor](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/bernatgabor/32/3003_2.png) [@bernatgabor](https://discuss.python.org/u/bernatgabor)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 7:28am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/4 "2021-01-18T07:28:53Z")
It’s a bit of inside joke, so needs explaining but @dustin covered it nicely in that talk. ---
**Author:** ![pradyunsg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/pradyunsg/32/206_2.png) [@pradyunsg](https://discuss.python.org/u/pradyunsg)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 7:30am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/5 "2021-01-18T07:30:08Z")
PyPI used to be called a cheeseshop, in reference to a Monty Python sketch (where the cheeseshop has no cheese). The joke was that PyPI was initially like that - it had nothing in it back then. 🙂 Based off that, wheel is a reference to wheels of cheese. ---
**Author:** ![uranusjr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/uranusjr/32/103_2.png) [@uranusjr](https://discuss.python.org/u/uranusjr)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 8:50am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/6 "2021-01-18T08:50:11Z")
Also the current iteration of [pypi.org](http://pypi.org) is called Warehouse, reflecting the fact that all cheese are not only expected but required to be stored on PyPI. ---
**Author:** ![dholth](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/dholth/32/952_2.png) [@dholth](https://discuss.python.org/u/dholth)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/7 "2021-01-18T15:24:10Z")
Not much call for it in these parts. ---
**Author:** ![cjolowicz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/cjolowicz/32/6461_2.png) [@cjolowicz](https://discuss.python.org/u/cjolowicz)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/8 "2021-01-22T23:33:08Z")
And I always thought the name referred to “reinventing the wheel” 😄 – as a humorous take on coming up with yet another packaging format. ---
**Author:** ![westurner](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/westurner/32/867_2.png) [@westurner](https://discuss.python.org/u/westurner)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 12:17am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/9 "2021-01-23T00:17:17Z")
Perhaps it’s a reference to maybe the greatest transportation/distribution invention of ancient history. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel#History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel#History) By comparison, eggs have more advanced functionality that’s actually undesirable when unarchiving a ZIP is all that root needs to do (wheels do not run setup.py [as root or otherwise]: that’s like trying to roll on eggs) ---
**Author:** ![westurner](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/westurner/32/867_2.png) [@westurner](https://discuss.python.org/u/westurner)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 12:17am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/10 "2021-01-23T00:17:59Z")
Let me just get all of my eggs in my basket here ---
**Author:** ![cameron](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/cameron/32/2658_2.png) [@cameron](https://discuss.python.org/u/cameron)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 3:03am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/11 "2021-01-23T03:03:11Z")
Python has a long Monty Python cultural history. PyPI (the Python Package Index) is often called the cheese shop (from the famous skit) and a “wheel” is a “wheel of cheese”. Cheers, Cameron Simpson [cs@cskk.id.au](mailto:cs@cskk.id.au) ---
**Author:** ![sumanah](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/sumanah/32/1722_2.png) [@sumanah](https://discuss.python.org/u/sumanah)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 3:15am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/12 "2021-01-23T03:15:50Z")
In my PyGotham 2018 presentation of 18 short plays about programming in Python [Credits and References for "Python Grab Bag: A Set of Short Plays"](https://www.harihareswara.net/sumana/2018/10/06/0) , the section “A Play Entirely Full of Monty Python References” [https://youtu.be/Tf6r55JMsNA?t=967](https://youtu.be/Tf6r55JMsNA?t=967) demonstrated the difficulty of explaining the format name “wheel” to people who are wholly unfamiliar with Monty Python and who do not routinely eat European-style cheese. ---
**Author:** ![dholth](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/dholth/32/952_2.png) [@dholth](https://discuss.python.org/u/dholth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 9:52pm UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/13 "2021-01-23T21:52:47Z")
I named it in an entirely logical way. Python software is cheese 🧀. The format contains Python software. What is a container for cheese? A wheel. This followed tentative names that were worse. It has nothing to do with the technical features. You are encouraged to enjoy the double meaning if you find it more fun. ---
**Author:** ![davidism](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/davidism/32/3295_2.png) [@davidism](https://discuss.python.org/u/davidism)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/14 "2025-10-10T15:10:53Z")
2 posts were split to a new topic: [An empty cheese shop](https://discuss.python.org/t/an-empty-cheese-shop/104294) ---
**Author:** ![davidism](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/davidism/32/3295_2.png) [@davidism](https://discuss.python.org/u/davidism)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/where-the-name-wheel-comes-from/6708/15 "2025-10-10T15:11:09Z")