few questions about python in linux

According to the tutorial it might be possible to make the script automatically executable by adding #! /usr/bin/env python at the start. If this and chmod +x script.py isn't working do I need a different program or do I just do anything wrong? I'm running in debian kde but the script works if I just do ' python script.py'

In windows it was possible to make a textpad like interface via new in idle so you can type the script without those >>> and ... lines the interpreter adds to it. Is the linux way using a normal text editor for this (text editor gives the syntax in color when the script's extension is .py)? Like is it even handy to write immediately in the intrepreter if you want to create a program or is that just if you want to do something once and without saving?

Thanks for the help!

idle should be available - I cant check Debian right now but it is probably in /usr/lib/python21/idle or idlelib (Assuming you are using 3.0r2 stable)

Try #! /bin/env python .

The command
which env should locate it for you

If it is not working then it means that python is not in the PATH of the user running the script. This is a "common" problem I think with CGI scripts because the script is not run as a normal user.

#! /bin/python should also work.

Shouldn't that be /usr/bin/python?

No it should be #!/usr/bin/env python like the OP had.

lol

Normal user and root give the same error. what;s wrong?Thanks for the help!

edit I tried all the suggestions for the #! line so maybe I'm calling the script wrong?

Looks like env is not marked as executable.

- Assuming that python is in the path of the user - which in this case it is.

My original post was based on Redhat 9 which has env located at /bin/env with a logical link at /usr/bin/env.
I guess demonstrating the diffent origins. I find this a laugh since this is the sort of problem env is trying to solve.

Had to unistall Debian as the only machine I have with compatible hardware is running Redhat9 at the mo'.

let me check if I have elf support in the kernel. That could be the problem isn't it (if it's an old executable type I probably have turned it off if it's new I should have it but I'll check it anyway)?

ELF support was on already. Any other suggestions?

Does:
env python

load up the interpreter?

This may be stupid, i dont pretend to be anything more than a noob when it comes to *nix! But, in my experiance, just typing python will start the Python interpreter so you might wana give that a go .

Also, try using the full path to where Python is installed, since that should always work. Oh, and you might want to throw a which python somewhere in there , that is if typing python works.

Hope this helps,

Mark.

Hmm figured it out. It looks like I didn't use chmod +x as root but as normal user. It didn't gace an error that I should have been root though. Thanks for the help!

Yes, using env is the best way but I was correcting Grim when he said an alternative would be /bin/python when it should be /usr/bin/python. Any distro that installs Python into /bin should be shot.

man 7 hier

Actually there's no guarantee that #!/usr/bin/python will work either, which is why they recommend #!/usr/bin/env python, becase python isn't necessarily located in /usr/bin either, but env is located in /usr/bin (at least for all the systems I've used). I figure that as a NetBSD user, you're probably well aware of this .
For the record, here are the locations on different OSs/distros, assuming you installed from ports/packages/pkgsrc and didn't muck around with the default install locations: