python setup in 2025

overview

as of august 2025, you should almost always use uv to install and manage python versions.

• it supports rootless installation by default
• it supports isolated version installations
• it is extremely fast to install uv
• uv will install python faster than apt or dnf

if a uv build doesn’t support what you need for some reason, you probably need to compile python from source (after checking with libraries, e.g., ssl or zlib, you are building against).

uv effectively replaces pip, pip-tools, pyenv, poetry, virtualenv, venv, and pipx

read the detailed guide on uv and uvx

python versions (august 2025)

current release status per python.org:

recommended: python 3.13

installation

linux / mac

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
uv python install 3.13

windows

# windows
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"
uv python install 3.13