Installing Python 2.6.7 on Windows

[Wanderer]

How do I install Python 2.6.7 on Windows? The Python 2.6.6 page says

"Python 2.6.6 has been replaced by a newer security-fix only source
release of Python. Please download Python 2.6.7 instead."

But there is no windows installer on the 2.6.7 page. Do I install
2.6.6 first and then update to 2.6.7?

Thanks

 

[Brian Curtin]

How do I install Python 2.6.7 on Windows? The Python 2.6.6 page says

"Python 2.6.6 has been replaced by a newer security-fix only source
release of Python. Please download Python 2.6.7 instead."

But there is no windows installer on the 2.6.7 page. Do I install
2.6.6 first and then update to 2.6.7?

As the text states, 2.6.7 is only a source code release. 2.6.6 is the
last binary package available, but if you need what's in 2.6.7, you
will have to compile the source yourself.

Alternatively, you could upgrade to 2.7 as 2.6 will continue to only
receive security fixes, or as Arnaud states, you could use an
alternative distribution to get 2.6.6.

 

[becky_lewis]

How do I install Python 2.6.7 on Windows? The Python 2.6.6 page says

"Python 2.6.6 has been replaced by a newer security-fix only source
release of Python. Please download Python 2.6.7 instead."

But there is no windows installer on the 2.6.7 page. Do I install
2.6.6 first and then update to 2.6.7?

Thanks

Hi,

is there any reason that you specifically need the 2.6 branch or would
it be possible to update to 2.7?

As someone else already pointed out, there's the ActivePython route if
you really need 2.6.7.

 

[Wanderer]

Hi,

is there any reason that you specifically need the 2.6 branch or would
it be possible to update to 2.7?

As someone else already pointed out, there's the ActivePython route if
you really need 2.6.7.

I need to stay in sink with the rest of the company which is still
using 2.6 flavors. There was some investigation into going to Python 3
but not enough of the libraries we use were available. I'll install
2.6.6. I don't think the security stuff really effects me. I think it
is strange to release a security update but not really expect people
to use it.

 

[Terry Reedy]

I need to stay in sink with the rest of the company which is still
using 2.6 flavors. There was some investigation into going to Python 3
but not enough of the libraries we use were available. I'll install
2.6.6. I don't think the security stuff really effects me. I think it
is strange to release a security update but not really expect people
to use it.

It is used most, I presume, by security-conscious server people,
especially *nix people, who expect to compile their own binary. The
ordinary user is hardly affected by most of these issues.

 

[Steven D'Aprano]

I need to stay in sink with the rest of the company which is still using
2.6 flavors. There was some investigation into going to Python 3 but not
enough of the libraries we use were available. I'll install 2.6.6. I
don't think the security stuff really effects me. I think it is strange
to release a security update but not really expect people to use it.

More likely the person who builds the Windows installers just hasn't made
a new release yet.

The Python development team is relatively small and chronically busy: too
much to do and not enough time to do it. As I understand it, most of them
use Linux, so I'm afraid that Windows sometimes takes a back seat. (At
least it's not Mac OS, which is stuck riding in the boot of the car, or
the other semi-supported OSes, which are on a skateboard desperately
hanging onto the bumper trying not to be left behind.)

You could try installing from source, if you have the appropriate Windows
development environment.

 

[Ned Deily]

More likely the person who builds the Windows installers just hasn't made
a new release yet.

The Python development team is relatively small and chronically busy: too
much to do and not enough time to do it. As I understand it, most of them
use Linux, so I'm afraid that Windows sometimes takes a back seat. (At
least it's not Mac OS, which is stuck riding in the boot of the car, or
the other semi-supported OSes, which are on a skateboard desperately
hanging onto the bumper trying not to be left behind.)

No, it was a deliberate decision. After a release is in security-fix
mode only, we don't build Windows or Mac OS X installers for them. The
emphasis is on the actively maintained release branches, currently 3.2.x
and 2.7.x. If third-party distributors want to support their users with
binary installers, that is of course their option.

"Python 2.6.7 is a security-fix only source release for Python 2.6.6,
fixing several reported security issues. Python 2.6.7 was released on
June 3, 2011.

Python 2.6 is now in security-fix-only mode; no new features are being
added, and no new bug fix releases are planned. We intend to provide
source-only security fixes for the Python 2.6 series until October 2013
(five years after the 2.6 final release). For ongoing maintenance
releases, please see the Python 2.7 series."

http://www.python.org/getit/releases/2.6.7/

(And I think you may be just slightly mischaracterizing the status of
both Mac OS X and Windows support.)

 

[Nobody]

No, it was a deliberate decision. After a release is in security-fix
mode only, we don't build Windows or Mac OS X installers for them.

But you continue to offer the installers for the unfixed version.

 

[Gabriel Genellina]

But you continue to offer the installers for the unfixed version.

As well as all the previous ones back to Python 1.x

I can think of several alternatives:

* Upgrade to Python 2.7, the current stable and maintained release.

* Compile Python 2.6.7 yourself. For the 32 bits version, you may use
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition (free/gratis); see
PCbuild\readme.txt for details. Obtain the required dependencies using
Tools\buildbot\external.bat. It compiles cleanly out of the box.

* Obtain the compiled binary somewhere else. Considering that 2.6.7 is
just a security patch, I'm not sure if running a precompiled binary from
untrusted sources is any better than sticking with the official, previous
version. I've built the binaries, in case you're interested.

* Compare both source trees and look at their differences. Most of them
are in Python modules that you can just drop over an existing 2.6.6
install. Only two C modules have changed, and require rebuilding
python26.dll:

timemodule.c r87648: Issue #8013: Fixed time.asctime segfault when OS's
asctime fails
unicodedata.c http://bugs.python.org/issue10254

If you think you're not affected by these, just ignore 2.6.7 (or apply
only the .py changes)

 

[rantingrick]

The Python development team is relatively small and chronically busy: too
much to do and not enough time to do it.

If that is the case then why do they snub their noses at anyone who
wishes to help? What kind of people would chase off good help just to
save ego? I imagine the folks at py dev sort of like a dying man in
need of a heart transplant; the man informs the doctor that he would
happy to get a transplant but not if the heart came from a jew, asian,
african, latin, russian, or canuck.

 

[Blockheads Oi Oi]

If that is the case then why do they snub their noses at anyone who
wishes to help? What kind of people would chase off good help just to
save ego? I imagine the folks at py dev sort of like a dying man in
need of a heart transplant; the man informs the doctor that he would
happy to get a transplant but not if the heart came from a jew, asian,
african, latin, russian, or canuck.

For the uninitiated, rr is to Python what King Herod was to baby
sitting. (With apologies to Tommy Docherty)