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I have a stock install of OSX (10.6). It has a whole bunch of different versions of Python installed: versions 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, and 2.6 came stock with the system. I can view them all in /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions.
Assuming I don't need any third party applications that depend on an older version of Python, nor do I need to test/run any Python scripts against old versions, what are the possible negative consequences (to the core system) of removing the old versions of Python contained in /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions?
Zac B
Posted 2013-02-14T16:53:27.023
Reputation: 2 653
The real question is: Why would you want to remove them? (To be honest, I don't think that there are any vital system processes that depend on this, but on the other hand I wouldn't try.) – slhck – 2013-02-14T16:57:30.813
1Curiosity. Disk space. Personal dislike for unnecessary redundancy. – Zac B – 2013-02-14T17:19:37.340
If the default state of the system from a fresh installation had multiple version then there is a reason for that. You would have to determine what system applications use Python and the version they support to determine which versions you can actually get rid of. You should also of course install ALL system updates once you determine what versions you can get rid of. – Ramhound – 2013-02-14T17:25:04.203
1If you're curious I'd suggest doing a Time Machine backup, removing them, and if things don't work out, restoring the frameworks. The Python frameworks in OS X 10.8 use around 100 MB, by the way. – slhck – 2013-02-14T17:25:16.783