Upgrade to Python 3.8 on a Chromebook

How to get up and running with Python 3.8 on your Chromebook in under 10 minutes.

Step 1— Install Python 3.8 prerequisites

From the Linux terminal app on the Chromebook:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential
sudo apt-get install libreadline-gplv2-dev libncursesw5-dev \
  libssl-dev libsqlite3-dev tk-dev libgdbm-dev libc6-dev libbz2-dev
sudo apt-get install libffi-dev liblzma-dev

Step 2— Download and extract Python 3.8 source

Note — If you want to use a later version just replace the version number (3.8.1) in all the next steps with the latest version number

cd /usr/src
sudo wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.8.1/Python-3.8.1.tgz
sudo tar xzf Python-3.8.1.tgz

Step 3— Compile and install Python 3.8

cd Python-3.8.1
sudo ./configure --enable-optimizations
sudo make altinstall

Notes — The altinstall option leaves the original Python untouched.

That’s it. You can now test the installation with:

python3.8

What else might you need?