Question

“I am using ubuntu 12.04 and by default python 2.7 is installed .I want python 2.6 .
When I used
apt-get install python2.6
I am getting error
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
Package python2.6 is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
However the following packages replace it:
python-gdbm

E: Package ‘python2.6’ has no installation candidate

Thanks in advance.”

Answer 1

As per the Ubuntu Wiki – Python Toolchain, Python 2.6 is no longer available in the repository.

Either:

• You can simply build it from source by downloading the tarball from
  Python 2.6.7
• You need to find out some repository which might have an older version of
  Python. One alternative is
  https://launchpad.net/~fkrull/+archive/deadsnakes

You need to install the PPA

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:fkrull/deadsnakes

Run Update:

sudo apt-get update

And then install the version you are looking for

sudo apt-get install python2.6 python2.6-dev