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Please clarify the uninstallation instructions for Mac #128039

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offby1 opened this issue Dec 17, 2024 · 0 comments
Open

Please clarify the uninstallation instructions for Mac #128039

offby1 opened this issue Dec 17, 2024 · 0 comments
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docs Documentation in the Doc dir

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offby1 commented Dec 17, 2024

Documentation

The current installation docs have two bullet points under the heading “A default install will include”. The second bullet point says “To uninstall Python, you can remove these three things.”

I had no idea what “three things” that sentence is referring to, until someone told me

It’s the three things that were mentioned in the previous paragraph, i.e. the usemac applications folder, IDLE, and the Python Launcher.

Could it be made more explicit? Something like the following makes more sense to me:

A default install will include:

* A |usemac_applications_folder_name| folder in your :file:`Applications` folder;

* Within the |usemac_applications_folder_name| folder: :program:`IDLE`, the development environment that is a standard part of official Python distributions;

* Also within the |usemac_applications_folder_name| folder: :program:`Python Launcher`, which handles double-clicking
  Python scripts from the macOS `Finder <https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201732>`_;

* A :file:`3.13` folder (under the "framework" :file:`/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework`), which includes the
  Python executable and libraries (the installer adds this location to your shell
  path);

* Symlinks to the above Python executable, placed in :file:`/usr/local/bin/`.

To uninstall Python, you can remove the above five things.

.. note::

   Recent versions of macOS include a :command:`python3` command in :file:`/usr/bin/python3`
   that links to a usually older and incomplete version of Python provided by and for use by
   the Apple development tools, :program:`Xcode` or the :program:`Command Line Tools for Xcode`.
   You should never modify or attempt to delete this installation, as it is
   Apple-controlled and is used by Apple-provided or third-party software.  If
   you choose to install a newer Python version from ``python.org``, you will have
   two different but functional Python installations on your computer that
   can co-exist. The default installer options should ensure that its :command:`python3`
   will be used instead of the system :command:`python3`.

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