Install Python 3.8.3 in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

If you are looking to install Python v3.9.0 in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

Python is an object-oriented, high-level, interpreted programming language. Guido van Rossum is the creator of Python programming language. Now, Python Software Foundation oversees its development. In this article, we would discuss how to install Python 3.8.3 in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS release.

It was year 1990, when Python first appeared. At the time of writing, the latest stable release is 3.8.3. Next stable maintenance version of Python i.e. v3.8.4 will be available on July 13, 2020.

As of now, we already have Python 3.8.2 available in standard Ubuntu repository. To verify for the Python version installed, issue the following in terminal –

python3 -V

It would return with –

Python 3.8.2

Note: Following operations would require you to have superuser privileges. In case you don’t have one, then contact your System Administrator for assistance.

Install Python 3.8.3 in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

First, we need to download the package from the official website of Python. So, on the Homepage of Python’s website –> Downloads drop down menu –> Open All releases. And, look for Python 3.8.3 and Open Download web address against it. Scroll down the page and look for Files section – open the web address that mentions – Gzipped source tarball.

The package we downloaded was – Python-3.8.3.tgz (approximately 23 MBs in size).

Next, use the tar command-line utility to extract contents of the package –

tar -xvf Python-3.8.3.tgz

It will create Python-3.8.3/ in the current directory.

Use cd command-line utility to get inside the directory –

cd Python-3.8.3/

and, issue following commands –

./configure
make
make test

Lastly, we have got two options –

  1. Either we replace already installed version 3.8.2 of Python 
    sudo make install

    To verify for the Python version installed –

    python3 -V
  2. Install Python v3.8.3 alongside the Python v3.8.2 
    sudo make altinstall

    To check for Python version –

    python3 -V
python3.8 -V

While installing the package, we encountered an error –

zipimport.ZipImportError: can't decompress data; zlib not available

This was resolved by installing the package – zlib1g-dev

sudo apt install zlib1g-dev

In conclusion, we have discussed how to install Python v3.8.3 in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS release.

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