xemacs +sumo +mule +carbon question

[belinda thom]

Hello,

I've installed xemacs (w/variants listed in subject line)  
successfully on my G5 running OS X 10.4.8.

I'm wondering what the recommended method for upgrading packages (and  
in particular, python-mode packages)  is.

I've tried using the Tools->Packages menu, but run into problems  
(e.g. in the middle of FTP, illegal ERPT command occurs).

 From documentation related to ipython, which that led me on various  
searches, it seems that the latest version of python-mode is at:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/python-mode/

I've temporarily downloaded this to a junk directory, so I could diff  
the macports-provided python-mode.el, which lives in:

Applications/MacPorts/XEmacs.app/Contents/Resources/lib/xemacs/xemacs- 
packages/lisp/python-modes/

with the sourceforge python-mode.el. They're definitely different.  
Sourceforge's version is 4.75, whereas the one distributed thru  
macports is 4.52.

Is the macports xemacs install out of date (I used a fresh install of  
macports, followed by a selfupdate, about 1-1/2 weeks ago)? Or, are  
we expected to use XEmacs packages tools to upgrade specific packages  
(and if so, has anyone successfully been able to do that)? Or should  
I clobber the macports python-modes directory and create a new one  
that holds the files provided in the sourceforge download?

Very confused. Advice appreciated.

Thanks,

--b