GeeXLab and Python 3 on Linux

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Here is a short post about how to use the Python 3 plugin on Linux. Depending on the Linux distribution / version, you can have Python 3.5, Python 3.6 or Python 3.8. Each version of Python has its own shared object file stored in /usr/lib/x86_x64-linux-gnu/ . For example with Linux Mint you have:

– Python 3.5 with Linux Mint 18.3 (/usr/lib/x86_x64-linux-gnu/libpython3.5m.so.1.0)
– Python 3.6 with Linux Mint 19.3 (/usr/lib/x86_x64-linux-gnu/libpython3.6m.so.1.0)
– Python 3.8 with Linux Mint 20.0 (/usr/lib/x86_x64-linux-gnu/libpython3.8.so.1.0)

GeeXLab is compiled on Linux Mint 18.3 to keep the compatibility with the GLIBC 2.23. And the Python 3 plugin (stored in GeeXLab/dylibs/plugin_gxl_python3_x64.so) is linked with libpython3.5m.so.1.0. On Mint 18.3, the Python 3 plugin works fine. But on the latest Mint 20, it does not work anymore because libpython3.5m.so.1.0 is not found (which is normal). So a quick solution is to add a symbolic link pointing to the real Python lib in the plugins folder of GeeXLab. For example, on Mint 20, we can create a symlink called libpython3.5m.so.1.0 with (open a terminal in GeeXLab folder):

ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpython3.8.so.1.0 dylibs/libpython3.5m.so.1.0

I added in GeeXLab folder three scripts to update the symbolic link depending on your version of Linux / Python 3:
– python3_plugin_update_symlink_for_python35.sh
– python3_plugin_update_symlink_for_python36.sh
– python3_plugin_update_symlink_for_python38.sh

All scripts will create a symbolic link called libpython3.5m.so.1.0 in the plugins folder of GeeXLab that will make plugin_gxl_python3_x64.so happy!