python alternatives

2 replies [Last post]
eric23
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Joined: 06/30/2017

I am trying to execute gplaycli but it complains that a python module is not available. I noticed that /usr/bin/python is a link that points to /usr/bin/python2.7 instead of the later python versions, which is required for androguard.core.bytecodes.

I am wondering if I should set up a debian alternative [1] by removing the link and

# update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python python /usr/bin/python3

Why didn't the package maintainer use update-alternatives since there are many versions? Isn't that the Debian way?

chaosmonk

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Joined: 07/07/2017

Python 2.7 is the last version of Python 2. Both Python 2.7 and Python 3 are packaged in Debian-based distros, because some programs are still written in Python 2, which is incompatible with Python 3.

Debian is making an effort to remove Python 2, so there will probably come a point where Python 2 is no longer in Trisquel, but probably not until until Trisquel 11.

=> https://wiki.debian.org/Python/2Removal

In the meantime, the "python" binary is a link to "python2" by default, and you should use "python3" for Python 3. It is not a good idea to manually change the link to python3", as other programs you have installed may depend on Python 2 and expect it to be available as "python".

nadebula.1984
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Joined: 05/01/2018

My (blobless) Debian installation no longer depends on Python 2.x several months ago after performing # apt full-upgrade. I installed several desktop environments (Gnome, MATE, Xfce and KDE) for specific purposes.