Trying to get a simple Python installation working on my Mac?

Question

I have Mac OSX 10.5.8 installed with Xcode installed. I want to avoid MacPorts and just want to get a solid foundation for installing Python so that I can continue to work with Django and other things. I want to use Buildout with my Python applications.

I installed binary Python 2.6.4 from the official site and installed it. Following other tips, I put this in my ~/.bash_profile file:

 export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH 

So, when I do a which python , it shows /usr/local/bin/python . And when I do python -V , it shows Python 2.6.4 - it all seems great.

I looked at the /usr/local/bin/ and, among other things, I seem to have the right things pointing to Python 2.6:

 python -> ../../../Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/bin/python 

BUT, when I do easy_install virtualenv (which I want to use with Buildout), it seems to install it in /Library/Python/2.5/site-packages/virtualenv-1.4.3-py2.5.egg

... what is Python 2.5? Also, when I configure my Buildout folder using virtualenv, there is a .Python :

 .Python -> /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/Python 

Why is this? I do not understand this. How can I get all this to point to the correct Python 2.6?

Thanks so much for any answers, this annoys me. Greetings.

Answer 1

Firstly, there is absolutely no need to install a new version of Python to work with Django in Leopard. Stock Python 2.5 is working absolutely fine, and Django is 100% compatible with this version.

Secondly, if you want to use virtualenv with a different version of Python than the default system version, you just need to say this when creating virtualenv:

 virtualenv --python=/path/to/python/2.6 virtualenvname 

Answer 2

When you install a new instance of Python, you also need to install a new copy of easy_install for it. Follow the instructions for the classic setuptools or the new Distribute . In any case, for python.org 2.6.4 on OS X, an easy_install script will be installed in /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/bin , which should appear before /usr/bin on your $PATH shell.

Answer 3

Personally, what I'm doing is to leave my system python completely as it is.

I use the following to install Python versions 2.4, 2.5, and 2.6:

Use buildout from plone collections to get python2. {4,5,6} installed with easy_install and PIL (including libjpeg support)

Checkout python assembly files from plone collections. I like putting it in / home / dev / python -buildout

 # svn co http://svn.plone.org/svn/collective/buildout/python /home/dev/python-buildout 

Add a new local.cfg file to the src directory. Here you indicate what you want to build. In the assembly file, do the following:

 [buildout] extends = base.cfg readline.cfg libjpeg.cfg python24.cfg python25.cfg python26.cfg links.cfg parts = ${buildout:base-parts} ${buildout:readline-parts} ${buildout:libjpeg-parts} ${buildout:python24-parts} ${buildout:python25-parts} ${buildout:python26-parts} ${buildout:links-parts} 

Download your system python and then run buildout.

 # python bootstrap.py # ./bin/buildout -c src/local.cfg 

When everything has been compiled, you should have new python binaries:

 /home/dev/python-buildout/src/python-2.{4,5,6}/bin/python 

To use them, either add the bin directory to your path, or specify an “activate” script in the bin directory, which will set it as active python in your current shell

 daniel@madmax # which python /usr/bin/python daniel@madmax # python -V Python 2.6.1 daniel@madmax # source /home/dev/python-buildout/src/python-2.4/bin/activate (python-2.4) daniel@madmax # which python /home/dev/python-buildout/src/python-2.4/bin/python (python-2.4) daniel@madmax # python -V Python 2.4.6 daniel@madmax # source /home/dev/python-buildout/src/python-2.6/bin/activate (python-2.6) daniel@madmax # which python /home/dev/python-buildout/src/python-2.6/bin/python (python-2.6) daniel@madmax # python -V Python 2.6.4 

For each project I'm working on, I try to create a new virtual environment using non-package sites and the corresponding version of Python.

Answer 4

PirosBOX: ~ piros $ python -V Python 2.5.1

Does OSX have 10.5.8 and I write excellent django applications: D It is important to get the version of SVN Django, better!

Answer 5

I found the following two links especially useful when I had to do this:

http://jessenoller.com/2009/03/16/so-you-want-to-use-python-on-the-mac/

http://blog.captnswing.net/2009/04/19/python-mod_wsgi-64bit-mac-os-x-105/