Getting and understanding a working Python installation
=========================================================

In this tutorial, we'll give an answer to the question why it is a good idea to
use Python, and show that if you do, you'll join a large and active community.

We guide you through the installation process of Python itself,
and explain how to install additional 3rd party extensions. You should only go
through these pages if you do not meet the :ref:`minimum requirements <python_requirements>`. 

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1
   
   why-python
   who-python
   installation
   understanding_packages


These notes are based on the installation section and intro (written by Thomas
Robitaille and Rory Holmes) of the `python4mpia
<http://python4mpia.github.com/>`_  and
`python4ESAC <http:/python4esac.github.com>`_ and the `scipy-lectures
<http://scipy-lectures.github.com/>`_ on Python.