title: Why and how: Missing symlink for python3?
body: <p>I am on macOS 10.15.7.</p>
  <p>I need both <code>python2</code> and <code>python3</code>.
  I am a beginner which is why I often struggle to understand many terms. A fellow student told me that the <code>-&gt;</code> are symlinks.</p>
  <p>When running <code>me$ which python3</code> I get:</p>
  <pre><code>/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.9/bin/python3
  </code></pre>
  <p>But when checking <code>ll /usr/bin/python*</code></p>
  <pre><code>lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel    75B Oct  9  2019 /usr/bin/python -&gt; ../../System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2.7
  lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel    82B Oct  9  2019 /usr/bin/python-config -&gt; ../../System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2.7-config
  lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel    75B Oct  9  2019 /usr/bin/python2 -&gt; ../../System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2.7
  lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel    75B Oct  9  2019 /usr/bin/python2.7 -&gt; ../../System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2.7
  lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel    82B Oct  9  2019 /usr/bin/python2.7-config -&gt; ../../System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2.7-config
  -rwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel    31K Oct 30  2020 /usr/bin/python3
  lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel    76B Oct  9  2019 /usr/bin/pythonw -&gt; ../../System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/pythonw2.7
  lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel    76B Oct  9  2019 /usr/bin/pythonw2.7 -&gt; ../../System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/pythonw2.7
  </code></pre>
  <p>Everything looks the same except for the line concerning python3.</p>
  <ol>
  <li>Why does <code>which python3</code> return a different path than the one I see when <code>ll</code>ing <code>/usr/bin/python*</code>. I mean both exist...
  So, why is <code>/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.9/bin/python3</code> preferred?</li>
  <li>Why is there no symlink for python3? What went wrong during the installation?</li>
  <li>Is it &quot;safe&quot; to just <code>manually</code> generate a symlink between the <code>/usr/bin/python3</code> and the <code>/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.9/bin/python3</code> as shown <a href="https://osxdaily.com/2015/08/06/make-symbolic-links-command-line-mac-os-x/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>. <code>ln -s /path/to/original/ /path/to/link</code> Being a beginner I'd rather ask the internet first ;)</li>
  </ol>
  <p>I'm happy to edit my question following your suggestions as I'm here to learn - and hopefully soon also to help.</p>
  <p>Thanks for your help.</p>