Hi, We're currently working on updating some getting started documentation for Qiskit and as it's written in Python we wanted to link to instructions on how to install Python (you can see the PR in progress for this here: https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/pull/1613). Previously, this section of the documentation linked to the Anaconda website which in my opinion isn't a good recommendation for a few reasons. So we were looking to update that documentation to point to the official installation instructions for Python. Looking at python.org the getting started page (https://www.python.org/about/gettingstarted/) refers to this wiki page:
https://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/Download for the details. I think the wiki page could probably use some updates as it looks a bit out of date. I'd like to request permission to edit that page so that I can make it a bit more up-to-date. Something like the following: (between "----") ---- # Downloading Python On many systems Python comes pre-installed, you can try running the `python` command to start the Python interpreter to check and see if it is already installed. On windows you can try the `py` command which is a launcher which is more likely to work. If it is installed you will see a response which will include the version number, for example: ``` Python 3.9.6 (tags/v3.9.6:db3ff76, Jun 28 2021, 15:26:21) [MSC v.1929 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. ``` If you don't see this, you will need to install Python on your system. If the version number is Python 2.x.y (where `x` and `y` are any number) you are using Python 2 which is no longer supported and is not a good choice for development. You can try running `python3` to see if there is also a Python 3.x.y version installed, if not you'll want to install the latest version of Python. If you do not have Python installed or need a newer version you can go to: https://www.python.org/downloads/ which will provide a button to download an installer for your particular system. Below are some system specific notes to keep in mind ## Windows On Windows the most stable build is available from the official download page https://www.python.org/downloads/ You should download and run the installer from that page to get the latest version of Python for your system. ## macOS For macOS 10.9 (Jaguar) up until 12.3 (Catalina) the operating system includes Python 2, which is no longer supported and is not a good choice for development. You should go to do the downloads page: https://www.python.org/downloads/ and download the installer. For newer versions of macOS, Python is no longer included by default and you will have to download and install it. ## Linux On most Linux distributions Python comes pre-installed and/or available via the distribution's package managers. Below are some common examples, but refer to your specific distribution's documentation and package list to get the most up to date instructions. If you'd like to download and build Python from source (or your distribution's package manager does not include a version of Python you need) you can download a source tarball from the general download page: https://www.python.org/downloads/ ### Red Hat, CentOS or Fedora ``` dnf install python3 python3-devel ``` ### Debian or Ubuntu ``` apt-get install python3 python3-dev ``` ### Gentoo ``` emerge dev-lang/python ``` ### Arch Linux ``` pacman -S python3 ``` ---- I'd gladly make these edits to the wiki page myself, or please feel free to just apply them or make similar edits without granting me permission. Besides updating the wiki page I think it is also probably worth updating: https://www.python.org/about/gettingstarted/ directly to include most of the details and have a more through and graphical getting started page (with a direct link to the download page) to make it easier for completely new users to get started using Python. Having an easy on-ramp for new Python users and developers on the python.org page I think would be a really good thing. Having had to onboard new users for Qiskit installing Python is actually one of the biggest hurdles for new users typically as many who are just getting started with do not have a strong computing background, so having detailed documentation on it would be really good for the main getting started page. Thanks, Matthew Treinish
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