M1 MacOS 12.2, never installed any dev tools / homebrew
python --version
Python 2.7.18
python3 --version
xcode-select: note: no developer tools were found at '/Applications/Xcode.app', requesting install. Choose an option in the dialog to download the command line developer tools.
It's possible there was a script lurking somewhere under /System/Library/CoreServices that might have needed Python 2. The script got rewritten/snipped off, and there you go.
Now, it's included in the CLI tools. You know how when you run 'clang' or any of those, it's a wrapper that offers to download the real tool for you? That's how the 'python3' binary works now.
Is there any chance that they’ve stopped confusing everyone by aliasing gcc to clang transparently? That’s the change I really want to see. The programs inherently accept different arguments. The amount of GitHub issues that boil down to someone thinking they’re calling GCC but calling Clang instead is staggering. Let my build fail.
Thanks, but I was trolling the shameless, senseless and topically irrelevant plug for homebrew. Get homebrew! Don't miss out! Everyone's doing it! All the hip youngsters know!