Editable installs don't expose `__version__`, break pylint

[jacobtylerwalls]

Steps to reproduce

1. pip install -e astroid
2. pylint --version

Current behavior

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/jwalls/release/bin/pylint", line 8, in <module>
    sys.exit(run_pylint())
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/Users/jwalls/pylint/pylint/__init__.py", line 31, in run_pylint
    from pylint.lint import Run as PylintRun
  File "/Users/jwalls/pylint/pylint/lint/__init__.py", line 20, in <module>
    from pylint.lint.caching import load_results, save_results
  File "/Users/jwalls/pylint/pylint/lint/caching.py", line 12, in <module>
    from pylint.constants import PYLINT_HOME
  File "/Users/jwalls/pylint/pylint/constants.py", line 62, in <module>
    astroid {astroid.__version__}

Expected behavior

pylint 3.1.0-dev0
astroid 3.0.3
Python 3.11.7 (v3.11.7:fa7a6f2303, Dec  4 2023, 15:22:56) [Clang 13.0.0 (clang-1300.0.29.30)]

Notes

Has prevented me from using pre-commit for a couple years now.

Environment

setuptools==69.0.3

[cdce8p]

Have you tried this?

pip install -e astroid -C editable_mode=compat

[jacobtylerwalls]

Thanks, that did it!

Do you think we should update the contributor docs or apply a patch like we did for pylint?

[cdce8p]

Do you think we should update the contributor docs or apply a patch like we did for pylint?

Tbh I haven't looked into how / why the patch works. Using -C editable_mode=compat was always enough for me, so I didn't question it further.

[jacobtylerwalls]

Workaround was inspired from this comment.

As I understand it, you aren't guaranteed the ability to import things off the module itself (e.g. astroid.version, astroid.exceptions) after a bare import astroid without it. I think it's worth a patch; we want astroid to be easier to contribute to!