Vim breaks after Python upgrade

[Terry Reedy]

NickC wrote:
> Perhaps OT, but I figure here is where people have seen this commonly.
> 
> I upgraded Python from my distro's default of 2.5.2 to 2.6.2.  Vim is now 
> complaining every startup about missing <exec> libraries, presumably as 
> some plugins run some python code on initialisation.  I'm guessing vim is 
> complaining as it was compiled with python support, and that was 2.5.2, 
> and the compiled-in python library locations no longer exist.

I believe you should have added 2.6.2 as an alternate installation and 
left 2.5.x alone. There have been several threads discussing this.

> I compiled a new vim, so things are ok-ish, but now my system is even 
> further away from standard distro.  I'm also a little surprised vim is so 
> clunky as to use hard-coded locations.  Do I really have to compile a new 
> vim every python upgrade?

Not if you add rather than substitute.
> 
> 'strings vim' shows some ascii that could be the python library 
> locations.  Being quite ignorant of how the linux loader works, could I in 
> future use sed on the vim binary to change every string of "2.5.2" to 
> "2.6.2", or are the library locations used by the loader coded in binary 
> rather than ascii (and so, harder to find)?
> 
> Thanks,
>