Python 3.8 alpha in Fedora

The Python developers have released the first alpha of Python 3.8.0 and you can already try it out in Fedora! Test your Python code with 3.8 early to avoid surprises once the final 3.8.0 is out in October.

Install Python 3.8 on Fedora

If you have Fedora 29 or newer, you can install Python 3.8 from the official software repository with dnf:

$ sudo dnf install python38

As more alphas, betas and release candidates of Python 3.8 will be released, the Fedora package will receive updates. No need to compile your own development version of Python, just install it and have it up to date. New features will be added until the first beta.

Test your projects with Python 3.8

Run the python3.8 command to use Python 3.8 or create virtual environments with the builtin venv module, tox or with pipenv. For example:

$ git clone https://github.com/benjaminp/six.git
Cloning into 'six'...
$ cd six/
$ tox -e py38
py38 runtests: commands[0] | python -m pytest -rfsxX
================== test session starts ===================
platform linux -- Python 3.8.0a1, pytest-4.2.1, py-1.7.0, pluggy-0.8.1
collected 195 items

test_six.py ...................................... [ 19%]
.................................................. [ 45%]
.................................................. [ 70%]
..............................................s... [ 96%]
....... [100%]
========= 194 passed, 1 skipped in 0.25 seconds ==========
________________________ summary _________________________
py38: commands succeeded
congratulations :)

What’s new in Python 3.8

So far, only the first alpha was released, so more features will come. You can however already try out the new walrus operator:

$ python3.8
Python 3.8.0a1 (default, Feb 7 2019, 08:07:33)
[GCC 8.2.1 20181215 (Red Hat 8.2.1-6)] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> while not (answer := input('Say something: ')):
... print("I don't like empty answers, try again...")
...
Say something:
I don't like empty answers, try again...
Say something: Fedora
>>>

And stay tuned for Python 3.8 as python3 in Fedora 31!

Fedora Project community

2 Comments

  1. Steve

    Good article,
    Do you know if there is anyone thinking of doing some python extensions for flatpak distribution? I’m thinking similar to the openjdk extensions or the rust extensions.

  2. Andrew Malcolmson

    Just last week I was trying to install Python 3.8 from source on my Chromebook where the only Linux option is Debian. You need to separately compile OpenSSL from source as well which takes ages and kept crashing. This is so much nicer.

Comments are Closed

The opinions expressed on this website are those of each author, not of the author's employer or of Red Hat. Fedora Magazine aspires to publish all content under a Creative Commons license but may not be able to do so in all cases. You are responsible for ensuring that you have the necessary permission to reuse any work on this site. The Fedora logo is a trademark of Red Hat, Inc. Terms and Conditions