title: How to access python package metadata from within the python console?
body: <p>If I have built a python package employing <code>distutils.core</code>, e.g. via</p>
  
  <pre><code>setup(
      ext_package="foo",
      author="me",
      version="1.0",
      description="foo package",
      packages=["foo",],
  )
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>where does all the metadata go (what is it intended for?) and how can I access it from within python. Specifically, how can I access the author information from the python console after doing something like </p>
  
  <pre><code>&gt;&gt;&gt; import foo
  </code></pre>