debian and python--any potential pitfalls?

[Robert Kern]

Brian van den Broek wrote:

> Not knowing much about the details of linux and less about Debian, my 
> googling hasn't yielded much that settles things. I have found out 
> that stable ships with 2.3.5. I imagine it should be straightforward 
> to upgrade to 2.4.2. Am I correct? Any other Debian/Python issues I 
> should know about?

There are packages for Python 2.3.5 (python2.3-*) and packages for Python 2.4.2
(python2.4-*). There are also metapackages (python-*) that just depend on the
python2.3-* versions. I think you might be able to set /usr/bin/python (which on
Debian stable is Python 2.3.5) to be Python 2.4.2 via the "alternatives"
mechanism, but I forget. Take a look at the Debian Python Policy document. In
any case, you can always get Python X.Y with /usr/bin/pythonX.Y .

  http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/python-policy/

You will probably also want to install python2.4-dev so you can build and
install packages with distutils.

-- 
Robert Kern
robert.kern at gmail.com

"In the fields of hell where the grass grows high
 Are the graves of dreams allowed to die."
  -- Richard Harter