Installing Python 2.4 with zlib on Debian

Yap, it’s not as easy as it is supposed to be.

1. First of all make sure you have installed zlib-dev library, which in Debian/Ubuntu is called zlib1-dev:

    $ sudo aptitude install zlib1-dev
   

2. Download Python from http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.4.6/

    $ cd /tmp
    $ wget http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.4.6/Python-2.4.6.tgz
   

3. Decompress it:

    $ tar -zxvf Python-2.4.6.tgz
   

4. Compile it. STOP, I did that 10 times already with and without –with-zlib=/usr/include option, nothing, only a lot of frustration. So here is the key:

    $ cd /lib
    $ sudo ln -s x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1 libz.so
   

5. Now compile and install python:

    $ cd /tmp/Python-2.4.6
    $ ./configure --prefix=/opt/python24
    $ make
    $ make install
   

6. Test if zlib is installed:

    $ /opt/python24/bin/python -c "import zlib"
   

7. Enjoy!