How to install python 2.7 on debian

python27_on_debian.sh

sudo apt-get install build-essential libsqlite3-dev zlib1g-dev libncurses5-dev libgdbm-dev libbz2-dev libreadline5-dev libssl-dev libdb-dev

wget http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.7.3/Python-2.7.3.tgz
tar -xzf Python-2.7.3.tgz
cd Python-2.7.3

./configure --prefix=/usr --enable-shared
make
sudo make install
cd ..

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python python /usr/bin/python2.6 20
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python python /usr/bin/python2.7 10
sudo update-alternatives --set python /usr/bin/python2.6

wget http://peak.telecommunity.com/dist/ez_setup.py
sudo python2.7 ez_setup.py
sudo easy_install-2.7 virtualenv

Just an update:

sudo apt-get install build-essential libsqlite3-dev zlib1g-dev libncurses5-dev libgdbm-dev libbz2-dev libreadline-gplv2-dev libssl-dev libdb-dev tk-dev

On jesse libreadline5-dev is now libreadline-gplv2-dev . Also install tk-dev to make sure you get tkinker sys library.

Thanks for this simple but lifesaving workflow! I was stupid enough to manually uninstall python2.7 but was able to recover it using this, saving me from the pain of completely setting up my system anew :).

@veralaub
I did the same mistake!
Thanks for sharing!

@wassname Package 'libreadline-gplv2-dev' has no installation candidate in Debian 12