[COLUG] Ubuntu Dapper (6.06) / Python 2.51

[Mark Erbaugh]

I'm trying to install Python 2.5.1 on my Ubuntu Dapper machine. The
repositories for Dapper have Python 2.4.3.

I downloaded the source tarbell, ran ./configure and make.  All went
okay (I think).  It created a python executable file in the make
directory and launching that brings up the Python 2.5.1 interpreter. If
I launch   Lib/idlelib/idle.py from the make directory IDLE runs.

However, if I run sudo checkinstall to build and install a .DEB package,
it get a lot of errors:

/usr/bin/install -c -m644 ./<x> /usr/local/lib/python25/<x>
/usr/bin/install: setting permissions for /usr/local/lib/<x>: No such
file or Directory and the installation eventually aborts.

<x> represents a file name.

I've checked and the files it is trying to install exist at the source
location.

If I manually execute /usr/bin/install (as superuser), the command
completes without error and the file is installed with the appropriate
permissions at the right place.

I also tried running the ./config --prefix /usr to try and have it
install files in /usr rather than /usr/local as the default Python 2.4
install in Dapper was in /usr rather than /usr/local. I still got the
same No Such File or Directory messages.

Is this just a makefile that checkinstall can't process or do I have
something set up wrong. I've used checkinstall to build packages for
other projects where the instructions are ./configure, make and make
install.

Second question.  Python 2.5.1 comes with the latest version of Ubuntu
(Gutsy - 7.10). However, the python executabe file that I built on my
Dapper workstation is over 3 MB in size. The executable python file in
Gutsy is only about 1.1 MB.  Am I building with some additional
information that I don't need?

Thanks,
Mark