Python comes preinstalled on most Linux distributions, and is available as apackage on all others. However there are certain features you might want to usethat are not available on your distro’s package. You can easily compile thelatest version of Python from source.
In the event that Python doesn’t come preinstalled and isn’t in the repositories aswell, you can easily make packages for your own distro. Have a look at thefollowing links:
See also
FreeBSD users, to add the package use:
pkg_add -r python
OpenBSD users use:
pkg_add ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/4.2/packages/<insert your architecture here>/python-<version>.tgz
For example i386 users get the 2.5.1 version of Python using:
pkg_add ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/4.2/packages/i386/python-2.5.1p2.tgz
To install the newest Python versions on OpenSolaris, install blastwave(http://www.blastwave.org/howto.html) and type “pkg_get -i python” at theprompt.
If you want to compile CPython yourself, first thing you should do is get thesource. You can download either thelatest release’s source or just grab a freshcheckout.
The build process consists the usual
./configuremakemake install
invocations. Configuration options and caveats for specific Unix platforms areextensively documented in theREADME file in the root of the Pythonsource tree.
Warning
makeinstall can overwrite or masquerade thepython binary.makealtinstall is therefore recommended instead ofmakeinstallsince it only installsexec_prefix/bin/pythonversion.
These are subject to difference depending on local installation conventions;prefix (${prefix}) andexec_prefix (${exec_prefix})are installation-dependent and should be interpreted as for GNU software; theymay be the same.
For example, on most Linux systems, the default for both is/usr.
| File/directory | Meaning |
|---|---|
| exec_prefix/bin/python | Recommended location of the interpreter. |
| prefix/lib/pythonversion,exec_prefix/lib/pythonversion | Recommended locations of the directoriescontaining the standard modules. |
| prefix/include/pythonversion,exec_prefix/include/pythonversion | Recommended locations of the directoriescontaining the include files needed fordeveloping Python extensions andembedding the interpreter. |
| ~/.pythonrc.py | User-specific initialization file loadedby the user module; not used by defaultor by most applications. |
To easily use Python scripts on Unix, you need to make them executable,e.g. with
$ chmod +x script
and put an appropriate Shebang line at the top of the script. A good choice isusually
#!/usr/bin/env python
which searches for the Python interpreter in the wholePATH. However,some Unices may not have theenv command, so you may need to hardcode/usr/bin/python as the interpreter path.
To use shell commands in your python scripts, look at thesubprocess module.
Vim and Emacs are excellent editors which support Python very well. For moreinformation on how to code in python in these editors, look at:
http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=790http://sourceforge.net/projects/python-mode
Geany is an excellent IDE with support for a lot of languages. For moreinformation, read:http://geany.uvena.de/
Komodo edit is another extremely good IDE. It also has support for a lot oflanguages. For more information, read:http://www.activestate.com/store/productdetail.aspx?prdGuid=20f4ed15-6684-4118-a78b-d37ff4058c5f
