Mac OS X Installation Problem

[Matt Trivisonno]

Hi Everybody,

1) Does OS X have a thing like the Add/Remove Programs control panel on
Windows XP?

My Tiger system had Python v2.3.5 on it and I threw the files in the trash and
installed v2.4.1, which is working fine as far as I can tell. However, when I
type python at the command line, I get "command not found" so,

2) How do I get OS X to recognize python at the command line?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Alex Martelli]

Hi Everybody,

1) Does OS X have a thing like the Add/Remove Programs control panel on
Windows XP?

Nope. You install stuff by running "packages" (installers) or dragging
..app "files" to Applications, uninstall it normally by dragging them to
Trash.

My Tiger system had Python v2.3.5 on it and I threw the files in the trash and

Very unwise move -- now your fax functionality (which Apple implemented
using their own special system build of Python 2.3.5) is unlikely to
work, for example.

installed v2.4.1, which is working fine as far as I can tell. However, when I
type python at the command line, I get "command not found" so,

2) How do I get OS X to recognize python at the command line?

Edit a ~/.bashrc file to add /usr/local/bin to your PATH.


Alex

 

[Kevin Walzer]

My Tiger system had Python v2.3.5 on it and I threw the files in the trash

It's not considered a good idea to trash Apple system files. It's likely
that system tools that depend on Python (CoreImage scripting comes to
mind) are now broken and the only way to fix this is to reinstall the OS.