Safe way to uninstall old version of python

Question

I want to update my Python framework on Mac and delete the old versions but I am not sure if is safe to

rm -fr /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.4 - 2.5 - 2.6 -3.0 etc.

Any suggestion?

Solution

Yes, it's safe.
The Mac's system python's are in /System/Library/....
.dmg's downloaded and installed from python.org are placed in /Library/....
Don't delete the /System ones, but the /Library ones are user installed, so they should be safe to delete.

Comments

[snapshoe]

I personally have done this-- I've installed python.org's .dmg's, then removed them and installed from source with homebrew.

[Ned Deily]

To completely delete the old ones, you can also delete the corresponding folders installed by the python.org installers into /Applications, either /Applications/MacPython 2.n or /Applications/Python m.n. The final piece is to delete the corresponding symlinks in /usr/local/bin (not /usr/bin!)

[Ned Deily]

Yes, you should not mess with Python files that are part of an OS distribution. But the paths referenced by the OP are not to the Pythons that come with OS X, rather they are ones installed by the python.org installer or other third-party installers.

[snapshoe]

+1 Ned. Agreed. I forgot those steps, but I remember doing them.

[mel]

It's safer not to mess with /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/

[skywalker]

/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework is not the system one

[jonnyd42]

I'm not able to do the above command. I get "Operation not permitted" even when I use sudo. @snapshoe