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I want Python3.4.3 and only Python3.4.3 on my Pi. I will be using a set up of 16-20 Pi's to teach Python Programming (and robotics) in a High School. Since Raspbian only supports Python3.2, I did a brand-new NOOBS install on a 4GB SD card, removed a number of never-to-be-used files (Scratch, etc.), removed both Python2 and Python3 (via sudo apt-get autoremove -y python3.2, etc.), and then tried to install a new version of Python3.4.3.

I downloaded the tar file, decompressed it, and got the Python-3.4.3 directory in my /home/pi directory. I cd into the Python-3.4.3 directory and follow the instructions in the INSTALL file, using:

  1. ./configure
  2. make
  3. make test
  4. sudo make install

Then, when it is finally done, I have the folder still in my /home/pi directory, but not installed anywhere else. No links, nothing in /usr/bin, nada. A listing of the Python-3.4.3 directory gives me the below and typing ./python gives me the below errors.

What did I do wrong? The instructions in INSTALL clearly state that Python3.4.3 will be installed in the appropriate directories (/prefix/bin and /prefix/local/pythonVERSION, etc.). I followed the instructions closely, but nothing happened like it was supposed to. No significant errors showed up during the make (other than expected - my poor little B+ only has 1 processor).

List of Python-3.4.3 and attempt to ./python:

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    Raspbian jessie has 3.4.3. That might be an alternative if you can upgrade from wheezy to jessie without too much difficulty. There may have been system dependencies on the installed versions of Python. They were used for a reason (not least becuase they were tested to be compatible with the other installed pacakges and libraries in that release).
    – joan
    Jul 28, 2015 at 7:32
  • I'm surprised it allowed you to remove python 2.x; this may easily pop up again as a dependency for something. A better approach would be to teach your students that 2.x and 3.x are slightly incompatible and what to do to make sure you use the version you intend to use.
    – goldilocks ♦
    Jul 28, 2015 at 12:05
  • raspbian.org has 'promoted' the jessie archives to stable in February of this year already, together with debian. It was only the raspberrypi.org specific stuff that took a long time ... but you've actively removed that, thus there's no reason not to use jessie. As you seem to be a power-user wanting to create your own custom environment, the Raspbian NetInstaller may be a better starting point.
    – Diederik de Haas
    Dec 12, 2015 at 0:05

1 Answer 1

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As @joan said, Jessie would be a much easier alternative. However, if you are going to install 3.4.3, the first comment is not to remove the other versions. They can all live together peacefully (I have 3.4.3 installed on mine).

And as @goldilocks said, I'm surprised that it let you uninstall 2.7. Some of the issues you had with the install may have been the result of removing it, but I'm not sure.

First question on your instructions, are you sure you used sudo? If not, then that is your install problem. It will make, but not install without root privileges.

Setting up 3.4.3 on wheezy is possible (I've done it), but it's a PITA to have it work naturally like you would want it to for students. That's because python is used in other places, and you shouldn't just remove 2.7 nor change the default binary nor default path so it finds python 3.4.3 instead of 2.7. I would suggest using Jessie although you can also have the students use virtualenv - that's another great solution.

Hope that helps.

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