Howto: Install Python 2.5.5 on Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

So, you're a Python developer and like to use the 2.5.x track instead of the 2.6.x or the 3.x track. Well, never fear! Despite the fact that 2.5.5 is not installed in 10.04, or available in the repositories, you can still install it into your system. The following steps will show you how.

Open your terminal and type the following commands line by line:

sudo apt-get install build-essential gcc
cd Downloads
wget http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.5.6/Python-2.5.6.tgz
tar -xvzf Python-2.5.6.tgz
cd Python-2.5.6
./configure --prefix=/usr/local/python2.5
make
make test
sudo make install
sudo ln -s /usr/local/python2.5/bin/python /usr/bin/python2.5 

There you have it! Python 2.5.5 is installed. Now if you want to run it, you can either type python2.5 from the terminal, or you can make a shortcut for it by doing the following:

1. Right-click on Applications.
2. Select Edit Menus.
3. Click Programming
4. Click New Item
5. Type "Python (v2.5)" in the Name Box
6. Type "python2.5" in the Command Box
7. Type any comments (optional) in the comments box or just click Ok

Now it should show up in your programming menu. Have fun with Python 2.5.5!