On Fri, Aug 22, 2025 at 10:39 AM Soren via Cygwin <[email protected]> wrote: >
> ... I didn't seem to have > "pip" installed (notice the "seem" por favor). So I started > setup-x86_64 and worked through the process of installing "pip". I am > working with python3 so I tried to select a "pip" that corresponded > with it. Python uses the "alternatives" system to allow multiple versions of python to be installed at the same time. Use "man alternatives" or "info alternatives" to learn about it, as there are several different "alternative" implementations used by different *NIX systems. Briefly, "alternatives" is located at "/usr/sbin/alternatives", because several of its functions required "root" or an elevated shell, e.g. started with "run as administrator". The "alternatives --list" command will show you which programs are configured to use "alternatives". On my machine, the output looks like: $ /usr/sbin/alternatives --list pip3 auto /usr/bin/pip3.12 pydoc3 auto /usr/bin/pydoc3.12 python manual /usr/bin/python3.12.exe python3 manual /usr/bin/python3.12.exe sphinx-apidoc auto /usr/bin/sphinx-apidoc-3.9 sphinx-autogen auto /usr/bin/sphinx-autogen-3.9 sphinx-build auto /usr/bin/sphinx-build-3.9 sphinx-quickstart auto /usr/bin/sphinx-quickstart-3.9 (This also shows that I have only installed the 3.9 version of the sphinx documentation creation suite, and not the 3.12 version.) The "alternatives pip3" and "alternatives python3" commands show me more info: $ /usr/sbin/alternatives --display pip3 pip3 - status is auto. link currently points to /usr/bin/pip3.12 /usr/bin/pip3.9 - priority 39 /usr/bin/pip3.12 - priority 312 Current `best' version is /usr/bin/pip3.12. $ /usr/sbin/alternatives --display python3 python3 - status is manual. link currently points to /usr/bin/python3.12.exe /usr/bin/python3.9 - priority 39 /usr/bin/python3.12 - priority 312 Current `best' version is /usr/bin/python3.12. These show that I have two versions installed, with the 3.12 versions configured as the defaults. I can still run the non-default versions by using the full file names, e.g. "python3.9". You are strongly advised to use the corresponding versions together, to avoid your confusion and Python errors. The root user (I, in an elevated shell) can change the default versions between 3.9 and 3.12 by using the interactive "alternatives --config python3" and "alternatives --config pip3" commands. As a regular user, I use the "python3" or just "python" and the "pip3" commands to run Python and Pip. You will have to create a virtual environment using e.g. "python -m venv venv" to use "pip install" as a regular user. Otherwise you will need to run "pip install" in an elevated shell. HTH Doug -- Doug Henderson, Calgary, Alberta, Canada - from gmail.com -- Problem reports: https://cygwin.com/problems.html FAQ: https://cygwin.com/faq/ Documentation: https://cygwin.com/docs.html Unsubscribe info: https://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple
