Providing a common initial run-time for python scripts at a workplace doesn't seem to get much attention (or I'm googling incorrectly ;). Common initializations make debugging and other maintenance tasks easier since you know what to expect from the runtime.

I claim that the simplest way to do this = put the following at the top of your script prior to importing libraries.

exec open("/etc/company_name/boot.py")

where /etc/company_name/boot.py contains routines to add library paths relative to the script running (most likely from an exported repository), logging setup, and any other items.

#!/usr/bin/python
""" setup the pythonpath """

import sys
sys.path.insert(0, "/etc/company_name/")

def bootpy_merge_paths(*relative_paths):
        path = ""
        # get path from cwd to this program 
        if "/" in sys.argv[0]:
                path = sys.argv[0].split('/')
                path[-1] = ""
                path = '/'.join(path)

        # merge relative path from cwd -> program -> library
        for r in relative_paths:
                sys.path.insert(0, path + r)

# merge in library paths in our repo
bootpy_merge_paths("../lib", "../../lib", "../../../lib")

""" set up logging """
import logging


""" anything else? """

Or does a better way exist?