Fortunately, there’s an open source counterpart for nearly every paid software product (or an opportunity to write your own). Ubuntu Linux and Python are two of the most popular open source properties in their categories (operating system and programming language). If you’re used to using Windows or Mac, migrating to a Linux distribution is challenging.
Where installing software development kits for NodeJS or Python is straightforward for Windows, this isn’t the case for many Linux Distros
What is Python?
was the open source community’s darling. However, as machine learning and AI became expanded as fields in computer sciences, data scientists and developers needed a more accessible
, deep learning and artificial intelligence. Since Python supports a variety of programming paradigms (procedural (imperative), object oriented, functional, structured, and reflective), it accommodates different learning styles and approaches to coding. Furthermore, this makes it easier to transfer what you’ve learned from one programming language to Python. All in all, suitable for developers of all levels of experience and expertise.
But how do you install Python 3 in Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04? At the time of this guide’s creation, Python 3.11.3 was the latest release. As such, the proceeding tutorials use it as an example.
Recommended Python System Specs
In addition to Ubuntu 20.04/ 22.04 you should at least have the following system specs:
- 2GB of RAM (Minimum)
- Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3250u CPU.
- 2GB of Disk Space.
How to Install Python On Ubuntu Tutorial
may already be installed
Check if Python is Installed
quickest and most surefire way to verify
- Activities. This opensa search field.
- Type Terminal into the search field.
- Select the Terminal
Once the terminal window is launched, verify the Python version by typing:
python3.11 --version
If the latest version of Python (3.11.3 or greater) isn’t installed on your system, you are confronted by a message similar to this:
execute successfully. To specifically check for Python 3, type the following code:
Python3 --version
don’t have Python installed on your computer or you’re using an outdated
Installing Python on Ubuntu
. Once that’s done you use the to install Python 3 from the (PPA). While you could use Ubuntu’s default repositories, Deadsnakes was specifically made to help users install Python on their computers. It contains the latest releases of Python, including nightly builds.
- It’s always good practice to ensure your repository lists are up to date. Enter the following command into the terminal screen:
sudo apt update
- Hit Enter.
- Enter the following command into the terminal screen:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
- You are presented with a wall of text. Read through the text carefully, then hit the Enter key to continue. Ubuntu then take a few moments to install the Deadsnakes PPA.
- Once that’s done, refresh your repository lists again (
sudo apt update). - Next, run the following command:
sudo apt install python3.11
- Follow the prompts on the screen, pressing the Y and/or Enter keys when necessary.
- Once the installation is complete, verify that it was successful by using the
python3.11 --version
It’s also a good idea to install the python-is-python3 package. It creates a symlink to the default Python command. This makes it easier for developers who have certain scripts or projects that rely on the Python (and not Python3) command. To install python-is-python3, refresh your Ubuntu repository lists and run the following command:
sudo apt-get install python-is-python3 -y
Please check the Python (3) version by running this command:
python -version
How to Uninstall Python from Ubuntu
Well, you may decide that you want to uninstall Python or its older versions from your system. Run the following command to check which versions of Python you have on your computer:
ls /usr/bin/python*
It results in something similar to this:
remove a specific version
sudo apt-get remove python3.[version number]
Replace [version number] with the version of Python 3 you want to remove. For example:
sudo apt-get remove python3.10
Of course, you can’t completely remove Python from the latest versions of Ubuntu because they’re so closely linked. However, you still purge and eliminate any Python packages that are unnecessary with the use of the above command.
How to Install Python 3 in Ubuntu 20.04 / 22.04 Conclusion
) uses Python for many of its important features. Thus, it’s not possible to completely separate or remove Python from Ubuntu. Regardless, the installed version of Python may not be the latest and it may not be accessible to you. Although updating or installing the latest version of Python is always a good idea.
