id	summary	reporter	owner	description	type	status	component	version	severity	resolution	keywords	cc	stage	has_patch	needs_docs	needs_tests	needs_better_patch	easy	ui_ux
21634	List of installed apps set to empty when ImproperlyConfigured exception is raised	nikolay.v.golub@…	Sasha Romijn	"This code in django.core.management. !__init!__.py at line 104
{{{
#!div style=""font-size: 80%""
Code highlighting:
  {{{#!python
        # Find the installed apps
        from django.conf import settings
        try:
            apps = settings.INSTALLED_APPS
        except ImproperlyConfigured:
            # Still useful for commands that do not require functional settings,
            # like startproject or help
            apps = []
   }}}
}}}
Says, that  apps will be set to [] if ImproperlyConfigured exception is raised. This leads to misunderstanding, when error raised for wrong configuration of 3rd-party application. 

Also this code contradicts PEP-20:
* Explicit is better than implicit
* Errors should never pass silently

For example if you use South, and have any 3rd party app, that can raise ImproperlyConfigured exception you will get following error when you'll try to migrate apps db schema:
{{{
Unknown command: 'migrate'
Type 'manage.py help' for usage.
}}}
What purpose of this catching? If something is improperly configured, maybe user should know about it? 

Please, review this ticket and remove this catching. "	Cleanup/optimization	closed	Core (Management commands)	1.6	Normal	fixed			Ready for checkin	1	0	0	0	0	0