[Tutor] How can I overwrite the previous version on linux ?

[Steven D'Aprano]

On 19/12/12 16:52, Dae James wrote:
> My linux distribution is CentOs 6.3. And python attached to the OS is 2.6.
> How can I overwrite the previous version with python 2.7 ? Or how can I
>uninstall the previous version?

Why? Do you like breaking your operating system?

Never, ever mess with the operating system's installed version of Python.
Unless you are an expert, you will probably break things. Even if you are
an expert, it is best to just leave it for the operating system.

Instead, install Python 2.7 separately.

You could try:

$ sudo yum install python2.7

from the command line, and see if that works. I'm still using Centos 5,
so I don't know what Centos 6 will do, but there is a very slim chance that
it will override the system Python 2.6. That's okay! If the package manager
does it, you can assume it will be done safely.

Chances are, unfortunately, that yum won't install Python 2.7 for you. In
that case, you have to do it by hand. Do you need help with that? Once it is
installed side-by-side with the system python, add this to your .bashrc file:

alias python=python2.7



-- 
Steven