From 51336710fa578c485725e399ba4531aba073d648 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Terence Eden Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2015 12:11:58 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Improve documentation for Linux Installation * Removes redundant language. * Helps user understand which version of Python & pip are installed. * Link to modern way of installing pip & setuptools Fixes #589 --- docs/starting/install/linux.rst | 31 +++++++++++++++++-------------- 1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/starting/install/linux.rst b/docs/starting/install/linux.rst index 3266dc7..86d0735 100644 --- a/docs/starting/install/linux.rst +++ b/docs/starting/install/linux.rst @@ -6,6 +6,13 @@ Installing Python on Linux The latest versions of Ubuntu and Fedora **come with Python 2.7 out of the box**. The latest versions of Redhat Enterprise (RHEL) and CentOS come with Python 2.6. + +To see which version of Python you have installed, open a command prompt and run + +.. code-block:: console + + $ python --version + Some older versions of RHEL and CentOS come with Python 2.4 which is unacceptable for modern Python development. Fortunately, there are `Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux`_ which include high @@ -18,32 +25,28 @@ side-by-side with the system's Python 2.4 installation. You do not need to install or configure anything else to use Python. Having said that, I would strongly recommend that you install the tools and libraries described in the next section before you start building Python applications -for real-world use. In particular, you should always install Setuptools, as +for real-world use. In particular, you should always install Setuptools and pip, as it makes it much easier for you to use other third-party Python libraries. Setuptools & Pip ---------------- -The most crucial third-party Python software of all is Setuptools, which -extends the packaging and installation facilities provided by the distutils -in the standard library. Once you add Setuptools to your Python system you can -download and install any compliant Python software product with a single -command. It also enables you to add this network installation capability to -your own Python software with very little work. +The two most crucial third-party Python packages are `setuptools `_ and `pip `_. -To obtain the latest version of Setuptools for Linux, refer to the documentation -available here: `unix-setuptools `_ +Once installed, you can download, install & uninstall any compliant Python software +product with a single command. It also enables you to add this network installation +capability to your own Python software with very little work. -The new ``easy_install`` command you have available is considered by many to be -deprecated, so we will install its replacement: **pip**. Pip allows for -uninstallation of packages, and is actively maintained, unlike easy_install. +Python 2.7.9 and later (on the python2 series), and Python 3.4 and later include +pip by default. -To install pip, simply open a command prompt and run +To see if pip is installed, open a command prompt and run .. code-block:: console - $ easy_install pip + $ pip --version +To install pip, `follow the official pip installation guide `_ - this will automatically install the latest version of setuptools. Virtual Environments --------------------