For now most people would do well to stick to python.org installers for mac and windows.
For linux, official repos are ideal. If you really, really can't (which is different than wanting to), ubuntu deadsnake and red hat epl are the best second plan, while already more finicky.
If you use something more exotic, you chose hardship, and you will have to be up to the task.
Anything else will come with bigger caveats than the people promoting them will really admit to.
The story is of course a bit richer because linux packaging is fun, so I'll complete with:
> but such advice is why so many beginners have painful Python experience
Sample of one, but I never encountered anything even broken in MacPorts. They seem to embrace the BSD ethos of doing everything right (even if at a slower pace, as some packages lag a few releases behind Homebrew).
Personally I only use MacPorts or Homebrew to install random smaller tools. It's easier to install Python, NodeJS, Postgres, etc binaries from the main website.
For linux, official repos are ideal. If you really, really can't (which is different than wanting to), ubuntu deadsnake and red hat epl are the best second plan, while already more finicky.
If you use something more exotic, you chose hardship, and you will have to be up to the task.
Anything else will come with bigger caveats than the people promoting them will really admit to.
The story is of course a bit richer because linux packaging is fun, so I'll complete with:
https://www.bitecode.dev/p/installing-python-the-bare-minimu...
Thete are currently no silver bullet to bootstrap python on linux. I tried all of them with hundred of colleagues and trainees.
I do have hope for astral to come up with one but don't run on rye thinking your life is saved.