The problem with the this is that many system applications use python, and depending on the exact distribution, many use python 3. However, if you run this in a clean install of Debian/Ubuntu, you will notice that the command returns update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for python3Įven if you have multiple versions of python 3 installed via apt.

This is the result of running $ sudo update-alternatives -config python3 The second thing one could mean by 'changing the default python version', is to change the default python version for all programs, including those not launched from an interactive shell. This also has the advantage that if it causes problems for any reason, one can simply remove the offending line in. If one is using another shell, add this to the appropriate config file. This is accomplished by adding the line alias python3=python3.7 The first, is that for an interactive shell, one simply wishes to easily open the desired python by writing $ python

Quick summaryĭo not use update-alternatives to change your default python version, as this will break system applications. The issue is there are two different things one could be trying to do by 'changing the default python version'. I would like to expand on a previous answer as the two approaches given are not equivalent, and one of them can even break the system.

Update python linux