Installing wxWidgets and wxPython On Ubuntu Or Debian

Installing wxWidgets and wxPython On Ubuntu Or Debian

There are wxWidgets and wxPython packages in the standard software repositories for Debian and Ubuntu, but they are usually at least a few releases behind the current release, and in some cases many releases behind. Since many users prefer to use only packages installed from repositories (for easier package management) but still would like to have newest versions possible of their installed software, we have our own APT repository that is usually updated within a few days of each release. To use it to be able to keep your wx on the cutting edge release just follow these instructions.

1. The packages and the repository meta-data are digitally signed, so you'll need to import the key into your apt's list of trusted keys in order to not get warnings about it.

       curl http://apt.wxwidgets.org/key.asc | sudo apt-key add - 

2. Add the following lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list file (or use the "software sources" program under the "system" menu). Replace the "DIST" text with whatever is appropriate for your system. (See the table below for a list of supported distributions and architectures.)

       # wxWidgets/wxPython repository at apt.wxwidgets.org
       deb http://apt.wxwidgets.org/ DIST-wx main
       deb-src http://apt.wxwidgets.org/ DIST-wx main  

   For example, if your distro is Ubuntu Gutsy, then you would use the following configuration statements:

       # wxWidgets/wxPython repository at apt.wxwidgets.org
       deb http://apt.wxwidgets.org/ gutsy-wx main
       deb-src http://apt.wxwidgets.org/ gutsy-wx main  

3. Run the this command to update your local copy of the package meta-data.

       sudo apt-get update  

4. You can now use your favorite package selection tool to install or upgrade the wxWidgets and wxPython packages. Here's how to do it with apt-get:

       sudo apt-get install python-wxgtk2.8 python-wxtools wx2.8-i18n

   The packages libwxgtk2.8-dev and libgtk2.0-dev may need to be installed if a 3rd party application requires wxWidgets when building from source.

       sudo apt-get install python-wxgtk2.8 python-wxtools wx2.8-i18n libwxgtk2.8-dev libgtk2.0-dev

   These packages (and their dependencies) will replace earlier versions of wxPython and wxGTK in the same ReleaseSeries that may have been installed previously. There are a few other wx packages as well, but those listed above and their dependencies are the core that are needed for use with wxPython.

Supported Distributions and Architectures

At a terminal, enter "lsb_release -a" to print what version of Ubuntu you have.

There are currently packages in the repository for these Ubuntu releases and architectures:

Release	DIST name	Architectures	Python Versions	Latest wx
Ubuntu 6.06	dapper	i386, amd64	2.4	2.8.8.0
Ubuntu 6.10	edgy	i386, amd64	2.4, 2.5	2.8.6.1
Ubuntu 7.04	feisty	i386, amd64	2.4, 2.5	2.8.9.1
Ubuntu 7.10	gutsy	i386, amd64	2.4, 2.5	2.8.9.2
Ubuntu 8.04	hardy	i386, amd64	2.4, 2.5	2.8.10.1
Ubuntu 8.10	intrepid	i386, amd64	2.4, 2.5	2.8.10.1
Ubuntu 9.04	Jaunty	i386, amd64	2.5, 2.6	2.8.11.0
Ubuntu 9.10	karmic	i386, amd64	2.5, 2.6	2.8.11.0
Ubuntu 10.4	lucid	i386, amd64	2.6	2.8.12.0
Ubuntu 10.10	maverick	i386, amd64	2.6	2.8.12.0
Ubuntu 11.4	natty	i386, amd64	2.6, 2.7	2.8.12.0
Debian 4.0	etch	i386, amd64	2.4	2.8.12.0
Debian 5.0	lenny	i386, amd64	2.4, 2.5	2.8.12.0
Debian 6.0	squeeze	i386, amd64	2.5, 2.6	2.8.12.0

Notes

• When multiple Python versions are listed in the table above then that means that the wxPython package supports all of the listed versions of Python at the same time. This is accomplished using the pycentral debhelper, so the wxPython package is only built this way if pycentral is available and if it says that more than one version of Python should be supported.

• If you don't see the release or architecture that you need here you can get the source package and build your own set of binary packages. See BuildingDebianPackages for a how-to.

• Starting with the 2.8.7.1 release this repository also contains packages for the ansi build of wxWidgets, all with an "-ansi" in their name. See UnicodeBuild for what this means.

• If you get errors during the package installation stating that the package relies on future versions of libc, libstdc++ etc, then you have likely chosen the wrong distribution, probably a later one than you actually have.