Installing Python 3000

["Martin v. Löwis"]

> I'd like to install Python 3000 on my computers (Mac, and possibly
> Windows), without messing up the existing versions.  So far, I've
> always relied on using ".msi" on Windows and ".dmg" on the Mac.
> 
> From the Python site, I read (different version, but still...):
> ----
> Unpack the archive with tar -zxvf Python-2.4.4.tgz ... Change to the
> Python-2.4.4 directory and run the "./configure", "make", "make
> install" commands to compile and install Python.
> ----
> The step that gets me worried is the "make install" one... I don't
> want it to take over as default.  I would like to be able to invoke it
> by typing "python3k ..." from anywhere and have it work - while still
> having "python" invoke the default 2.5 version.

I recommend that you then do use the prebuilt binaries, at least
where available, i.e.

http://www.python.org/download/releases/3.0/

For OSX, I recommend to use a different --prefix for installing,
e.g. /usr/local/py3k. All files then go into that directory, and
nothing else lives in it. To invoke it, you give
/usr/local/py3k/bin/python; if you want to make a python3k link someone
in your path - that would be your choice.

HTH,
Martin