Ubuntu Python2.6 Installation

OS: Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron)
Python Version: 2.6.1

1. Install prerequisites
sudo aptitude install build-essential libncursesw5-dev libreadline5-dev
libssl-dev libgdbm-dev libbz2-dev libc6-dev libsqlite3-dev libdb-dev tk-dev

2. Download python 2.6
http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.6.1/Python-2.6.1.tar.bz2

3. Uncompress it
tar -jxvf Python-2.6.1.tar.bz2

4. Change directory to python extracted python directory
cd Python-2.6.1

5. create a directory to install python2.6
here i created a directory in /etc folder
sudo mkdir /etc/python2.6

6. Configure python to install to that directory
./configure --prefix==/etc/python2.6

7. Compile python
make

8. Install python
sudo make install

9. Create symbolic link to that directory
sudo ln -s /etc/python2.6/bin/python /usr/local/bin/python2.6