Updating to python 3.8 in Ubuntu 18.04

Question

I am updating python to 3.8. After following some tutorials when I type:

python --version

I get

Python 3.7.4

If I type:

python3.8 --version

I get

Python 3.8.12

How can I get the python --version to say that I am using 3.8 ??

Answer 1

When you need python 3.8, call it with python3.8.

---

You should not change the default python3.6 in Ubuntu 18.04. Otherwise, you may experience a lot of problems.

Run

sudo update-alternatives --config python3

And choose python3.6. You can also choose 3.8 here (at your own risk), but it may lead to nasty issues like this.