Question

I downloaded a package installer for Python 2.6.1, but when I use the python command in terminal (bash) Apple’s shipped 2.3.5 version loads up. How can I get 2.6.1 to load up instead?

Answer 1

I am running Leopard, 10.5.5. The python binary, /usr/bin/python, is merely a symlink to the actual binary in the version specific Python folder. For example:

$ ls -l /usr/bin/python lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel  72 Aug 31  2008 /usr/bin/python -> ../../System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/bin/python 

And a look inside that /Versions folder reveals this:

$ ls -l /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/ total 8 drwxr-xr-x   7 root  wheel  238 Aug 31  2008 2.3 drwxr-xr-x  13 root  wheel  442 Nov 22 20:40 2.5 lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  wheel    3 Aug 31  2008 Current -> 2.5 

With the help of the ln command to create symlinks, you will be able to set the python in your path to point to the version of python you want to use.