I am using a Mac PPC with Tiger 10.4.11 and I recently downloaded and installed Python 2.6.2. and I am having difficulties getting started.

I purchased "Python Programming, 2nd Ed. for the absolute beginner" by Michael Dawson because he uses games to teach programming and the book got great reviews at Amazon.com.

When I opened the CD that came with the Python book I could not open the software (Pygame, Livewires, etc.) and I could find no reference to Mac or Windows unless it was in the file names which I don't know.

I went to the Pygame website
http://www.pygame.org/download.shtml
"Macintosh" to download Pygame

"These are packages for the python from python.org, not the system python. These packages work with OSX 10.3.9 upwards.
# pygame-1.8.1release-py2.5-macosx10.5.zip
# pygame-1.8.1release-py2.4-macosx10.5.zip
# pyobjc-1.4-py2.5-macosx10.4.mpkg.zip - pyobjc is needed for OSX 10.3, 10.4, and 10.5."

and for the first time using this Mac I couldn't install anything. All three installation attempts ended with a red exclamation point over the Macintosh HD icon and a button saying "Go Back." The "Continue" button was grayed out.

In the Pygame Readme it says,

Installation
You should definitely begin by installing a binary package for your system. The binary packages usually come with or give the information needed for dependencies. Choose an appropriate installer for your system and version of python from the pygame downloads page. http:// www.pygame.org/download.shtml

I don't know what a "binary package" is or where to get one. Nor do I know what "dependencies" are. Apparently I have a lot to learn before I can even start to learn programming through games – my ambitions have greatly exceeded my present capabilities. Any assistance regarding this matter would be greatly appreciated. If there's a better or more useful place to post this message please let me know.

Thank you.

P.S. I like the idea of learning programming through games so much that I also purchased Dawson's highly rated book "Beginning C++ Through Game Programming, 2nd Ed" which I haven't looked at yet. I don't want to open the CD in case I have to send both books back to Amazon.com which I don't really want to do. Has anyone here used Michael Dawson's books and can they be made to work on a Mac? Thanks again.

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