Python in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Installing Python from Binaries

If your platform is popular and current, you may find pre-built and packaged binary versions of Python ready for installation. Binary packages are typically self-installing, either directly as executable programs, or via appropriate system tools, such as the RedHat Package Manager (RPM) on Linux and the Microsoft Installer (MSI) on Windows. Once you have downloaded a package, install it by running the program and interactively choosing installation parameters, such as the directory where Python is to be installed.

To download Python binaries, visit http://www.python.org and follow the link labeled Download. At the time of this writing, the binary installers directly available from the main Python site are a Windows Installer (MSI) package:

• http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.4.3/Python-2.4.3.msi

and a Mac OS X Disk Image (.dmg) package suitable for Mac OS X 10.3.9 and later on either a PowerPC or Intel processor (“Universal” format):

• http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.4.3/Universal-MacPython-2.4.3.dmg

Many third parties supply free binary Python installers for other platforms. For Linux distributions, see http://rpmfind.net if your distribution is RPM-based (RedHat, Fedora, Mandriva, SUSE, etc.) or http://www.debian.org for Debian and Ubuntu. The site http://www.python.org/download/ provides links to binary distributions for OS/2, Amiga, RISC OS, QNX, VxWorks, IBM AS/400, Sony PlayStation 2, Sharp Zaurus, and Windows CE (also known as “Pocket PC”). Older ...