Installing Python 2.5 on Mac 10.6, for GAE/Django-nonrel (and i'm a new mac user)

Question

My big problem here is that I'm 1 day into learning MacOSX so the basics need to be explained to me like I'm a 4 yr old.

I'm running OS 10.6, Snow Leopard, which comes with Python 2.6.

The real problem is getting Aptana 2.0 to debug Google App Engine SDK, which I require PIL for image transforming, which requires python 2.5, with the app using the Django-nonrel framework (I realize I didn't make this easy on myself).

I'm already familiar with Python, Google App Engine and Django-nonrel, but getting this setup on a Mac I'm lost.

1) How do I install a 2.5 and not screw up my already install 2.6?
2) How do I change the python path?

Info on how to install PIL on a mac

Mac PIL installer for Python 2.5

(Btw, I totally feel like a 80 yr old trying to program on this mac)

Answer 1

10.6 has python2.5 installed, but python2.6 is the default. Use python2.5 manage.py instead of python manage.py.

You can also change default python: defaults write com.apple.versioner.python Version 2.5

Changing the system wide python default may have unintended side affects depending on your setup.

In either situation, you will still want to use easy_install-2.5

Answer 2

Easiest way is probably to install Mac Ports: http://www.macports.org/

Then from a terminal window: $ sudo port install python25

Afterwards, you should have python_select available, which you can use to change your symlinks.

Answer 3

I found this stackoverflow answer

Instead of using brew to install into the entire system a really old version of Python; consider using pythonbrew instead. It will isolate the python install - a bit like virtual environment, but for Python itself.

How to install pythonbrew

How to use pythonbrew