Installing Python from source (Ubuntu)

Get the link for the source code from the Python Software Foundation.

Run the following in the terminal.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential \
        zlib1g-dev libncurses5-dev libgdbm-dev \
        libnss3-dev libssl-dev libreadline-dev \
        libffi-dev wget

cd /tmp
wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.7.4/Python-3.7.4.tgz
tar -xvf Python-3.7.4.tgz
cd Python-3.7.4
sudo ./configure --enable-optimizations --with-openssl=/usr/bin/openssl
sudo make altinstall -j `nproc`

Sidenotes:

• Linking OpenSSL just in case pip can’t find it
• nproc outputs the number of processors in the computer

For in-depth discussion check this source: Linuxize.