Python – On which unix distributions is Python installed as part of the default install

portabilitypython

Does anyone know of an overview that would document on which (recent) UNIX distributions Python is available by default, i.e. part of the default installation?

PS: Answers from StackOverflow, before the question was moved here:

  • Don't know for all Unix OSes, but for Linux you can always check distrowatch.org. But this is not the right site to post this kind of question: please move this to unix.stackexchange.com – vstrien 2 hours ago
  • I can't think of any distributions where it isn't installed by default. Many basic system tools are written in Python these days. – Daniel Roseman 1 hour ago
  • It is NOT installed by default in LFS… – Oz123 1 hour ago

Best Answer

Just looking at the systems available to me here:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux and its close relatives (Fedora, CentOS, Scientific Linux, Oracle Linux...) will always have Python installed since the installer and many core tools are written in Python.

  • Ubuntu has had Python installed by default since at least version 8.04.

  • Debian currently ships with Python installed by default.

  • Mac OS X has shipped with Python installed by default going back to at least 10.3.

  • OpenIndiana currently ships with Python installed by default. I assume that means Solaris also does, but I do not have a system here to test.

Python is not installed by default in any of the BSDs, unless you count OS X. You may well find that it is available on a BSD system because it was added after the system was installed. If not, it is available through the default package system in all cases:

  • FreeBSD includes Python in the Ports system: /usr/ports/lang/python

  • OpenBSD includes Python in its package system: sudo pkg_add python

  • NetBSD includes Python in its pkgsrc system, in lang/python*

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