CODEWITHSUNDEEP
python-2.7python-3.xenvironment-variablesarchlinux
user1876508
user1876508

Reputation: 13172

How to completely replace python 3 with python 2 in arch linux

I want to completely replace python 3 with python 2 in arch linux. I have already read https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Python but it only provides a temporary fix. I need to ensure that when I call

#!/usr/bin/python

My program is using python 2 instead of python 3.

Upvotes: 16

Views: 30330

Answers (2)

Ivan Semkin
Ivan Semkin

Reputation: 177

Changing the default symlink is a bad idea, and it gets recreated on python3 updates. Instead, create a local python override:

sudoedit /usr/local/bin/python

Paste this inside and save the file:

#!/bin/bash
exec python2 "$@"

Don't forget to make it executable:

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/python

Upvotes: 10

Christopher Neylan
Christopher Neylan

Reputation: 8272

In Arch, /usr/bin/python is actually a symlink to python3. Assuming you've already installed python2, as root, change the symlink to point to python2:

cd /usr/bin
ls -l python
    lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7  5 sept. 07:04 python -> python3
ln -sf python2 python
ls -l python
    lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Dec 11 19:28 python -> python2

If you're using the python2-virtualenv package, then do the same for /usr/bin/virtualenv:

cd /usr/bin
ln -sf virtualenv2 virtualenv

Upvotes: 39

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