Linux and Python install problem

[aflinsch]

Matthew Miller wrote:
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I'm REALLY new to Linux and I'm stuck. I've downloaded python-1.5.2 and
> untarballed the distro. However, when I run the configure shell script
> using ./configure, bash reports "No such file or directory". I'm doing
> this from within the python directory (ie: not a path issue as far as I
> can tell) and have ensured execute permissions are set etc. Any ideas?
> Thanks...

hmm, python should be included in most new Linux distros, so it might
already be installed, if it isnt, try looking on your Linux
installation disk for it and install it from that.

If it is not there check the following:

1 - configure really is executable by you. It won't work if it is only
executable by root, or a group that you do not belong to (ie, you made
it executable as root only, but are trying to do the ./configure as a
normal user)

2 - check the shebang line  in the configure script for invisible
characters, particularly a bad crlf or newline at the end. I have had
this happen to me several times, usually when I edited a script in
Windows then tried to execute it in Linux. Just delete and retype the
first line in the script, that should be the easiest way to fix it for
a newbie.

3 - make sure that the shebang line in the script actually points to a
executable file. Almost but not quite the same as idea #2