Would like to run linux on old macbook

[kristenanne77]

I have an old macbook with intel processor, maybe about 7 years old.
I run snow leopard and bootcamp with windoz xp.
I would also like to run linux?
I need to keep both mac os an xp on the computer.
Is it possible to run linux also?
Someone mentioned that if i cant install a linux operating system i can run linux right from the mac terminal view.if this is possible, how would i do it?

My goal is to learn python for a raspberry pi and i believe linux is the way to go on this.

Thanks
K

 

[SlCKB0Y]

My goal is to learn python for a raspberry pi and i believe linux is the way to go on this.

OS X already has Python installed by default.

 

[yjchua95]

I have an old macbook with intel processor, maybe about 7 years old.
I run snow leopard and bootcamp with windoz xp.
I would also like to run linux?
I need to keep both mac os an xp on the computer.
Is it possible to run linux also?
Someone mentioned that if i cant install a linux operating system i can run linux right from the mac terminal view.if this is possible, how would i do it?

My goal is to learn python for a raspberry pi and i believe linux is the way to go on this.

Thanks
K

As mentioned, OS X has Python installed right out of the box.

You can also install an updated version of Python on OS X.

 

[kristenanne77]

Do you mean I can just run Python on Snow Leopard without having to go to into Linux environment first? This sounds great.
Where can I find instructions to do this?

(By the way , I do not know how to program in Python yet, I am just starting to get prepared, any good sources would be appreciated.)

Thanks
K

 

[alex0002]

Do you mean I can just run Python on Snow Leopard without having to go to into Linux environment first? This sounds great.
Where can I find instructions to do this?

(By the way , I do not know how to program in Python yet, I am just starting to get prepared, any good sources would be appreciated.)

Thanks
K

I'm not a programmer, but I've used python before.
Open a terminal and check if python is installed.

If "python -V" returns the version number, you have python.

$ python -V
Python 2.7.5

The above is from OS X 10.9.5 so you might see an older version.

Python is an interpreter - you don't need to compile anything, just write a python script and run it.

You might want to start at python.org and browse the documentation or just search for what you need.

Simple python script examples can be found here:
https://wiki.python.org/moin/SimplePrograms

If you need to install a newer version of python and other development tools at the same level as will be used in your linux environment, one way would be to install Homebrew and then install python from within Homebrew.

 

[yjchua95]

Do you mean I can just run Python on Snow Leopard without having to go to into Linux environment first? This sounds great.
Where can I find instructions to do this?

(By the way , I do not know how to program in Python yet, I am just starting to get prepared, any good sources would be appreciated.)

Thanks
K

Just type 'python' in terminal (without quotes) and there you are.