Installing multiple python versions - CentOs Linux

[Brendan]

The current CentOs Linux distro includes python 2.4.3. I need to
install a more recent version but I am worried about breaking CentOs
python dependencies. Is it safe to install python 2.6 using pup?

 

[Diez B. Roggisch]

The current CentOs Linux distro includes python 2.4.3. I need to
install a more recent version but I am worried about breaking CentOs
python dependencies. Is it safe to install python 2.6 using pup?

It should be, yes. Usually, Distros make sure it doesn't break anything
- and python can have several installations living happily along each
other.

The only caveat I see is that you might accidentially replace
/usr/bin/python with the newer version. Make sure you keep that to the
one the system wants, and simply use python2.6 as executable-name.

Diez

 

[Michele Simionato]

It should be, yes. Usually, Distros make sure it doesn't break anything
- and python can have several installations living happily along each
other.

The only caveat I see is that you might accidentially replace
/usr/bin/python with the newer version. Make sure you keep that to the
one the system wants, and simply use python2.6 as executable-name.

Diez

If you install from sources, the safest path is to run

$ sudo make altinstall (will add the version number to the executable)

and NOT

$ sudo make install

 

[Brendan]

If you install from sources, the safest path is to run

$ sudo make altinstall (will add the version number to the executable)

and NOT

$ sudo make install

Ah, that is perfect. Thank-you!