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Since Python 3.7 is already launched, I wanted to ask when will Ubuntu 18.04 will get an update to upgrade the Python3'sversion?

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    It won't. As everything depends on Python to work, upgrading a Python version on a stable release could make everything not function, which is why the Python version is version-locked in the repositories. You would need to find a third party PPA with a co-installable Python 3.7 in order to get newer Python on that version of Ubuntu. See this relevant/related post: askubuntu.com/questions/151283/…
    – Thomas Ward
    Jun 29, 2018 at 15:05
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    I really wish this Question was not locked, the supposedly duplicate linked question is much more generic than this one. I would like to post an answer to the question Upgrading Python 3.6 to 3.7 in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.
    – htaccess
    Oct 21, 2019 at 21:45

2 Answers 2

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No

Ubuntu uses a snapshot method of populating the software repositories. After release, the only changes are for security and major bugfixes. In addition, a great deal of the system depends upon a specific version of python - upgrading python may break those services (like apt).

Historically, Ubuntu has never upgraded to the next major version of Python or Python3 during a release. All upgrades occur during pre-release testing.

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  • So it's completely version locked? Jun 29, 2018 at 15:09
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    I don't know what you mean by 'version locked'. If you install a somewhere-else package of 3.7, replacing 3.6, you are likely to break your system quite badly. If you install a somewhere-else package of 3.7 alongside 3.6, you must have the skills to do so properly...or you will break your system quite badly.
    – user535733
    Jun 29, 2018 at 15:29
  • @user535733 yes, you are right. I should read your comment earlier. Aug 6, 2020 at 14:23
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If you need the newest python version, I recommend to use python environments like Anaconda or others. The Pros are that you can install several environments with different python and package versisons with a tool called conda. So you don't get problems with your system python's.

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