[Pythonmac-SIG] Is this the correct way to have installed and to use Python 2.4

[Chris Barker]

Bob Ippolito wrote:

> Change your PATH environment variable to put /usr/local/bin before / 
> usr/bin or equivalent.

That's option A.

Option B. is to use "python2.4" when you want 2.4, either at the command 
line, or in a script's #! line:

#!/usr/bin/env python2.4


I'm pretty sure Bob's 2.5 package installs a binary (or a link) called 
python2.4 If it doesn't work, you may need to put /usr/local/bin on your 
PATH.

I prefer this option because in unequivocally will run ONLY with 2.4, 
and you've made it clear in your source that that is how it's been 
tested. It's the ONLY way to go if you want to have multiple versions 
installed,a nd be able to test against them easily. It also means that 
when you install 2.5, all the scripts that use 2.4 will still work, and 
indeed, any of the scripts you now have using 2.3 will still work.

I got into this habit when running RedHat Linux, which REQUIRED "python" 
to be the one they had installed (1.5.6 for a LONG time). I don't' know 
how Apple has used python, and I think OS-X is less likely to use a PATH 
you've set for system scripts, but I still like this approach better.

-Chris





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Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
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