How to install Python 3.8

General
#1

I tried to install gensim using

pip3 install -U gensim

but it died with the message that python 3.8 is required. However, Rocky ships with only 3.6 as far as I can see.

My web search shows that to upgrade, I have to rebuild python from scratch. Is this the only way??

#2

Hi,

This should work:

https://www.server-world.info/en/note?os=CentOS_8&p=python&f=4

Thanks Tom.

#3

Thanks!

That install Python 3.8

However gensim install still dies because it is still pointing at the 3.6 python folders. My
/usr/lib now has python3.6 and python3.8, but my internet searches do not reveal how to point pip to the correct version. People talk about a pip.conf file, but I don’t have it.

#4

You may need to see if pip3.8 as a command exists. If not, install python38-pip and you’ll have that. That pip will use 3.8 by default, no issues. I’m not sure how a pip.conf works, honestly. I just work off of the pip3.X commands that exist on a given system.

#5

No. Not only. Scratch is the worst way. RHEL 8, and hence Rocky, has application streams. See Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Application Streams Life Cycle - Red Hat Customer Portal

There are currently pythons 2.7, 3.8, and 3.9 available. They are not supported as long as the 3.6. Strictly, one does not need to install the 3.6 for user. The platform, e.g. dnf, absolutely requires python 3.6, but it does not need to be visible to the user. The ‘pip’ probably resolves via alternatives to some pipX.Y.

P.S. You will pip install as regular user, won’t you? One should.