can't edit line in python's command line in Linux
Question: I'm running the Python CLI under Linux:

    
    
    bla:visualization> python
    Python 2.1.1 (#18, Nov  1 2001, 11:15:13) 
    [GCC egcs-2.91.66 19990314/Linux (egcs-1.1.2 release)] on linux2
    Type "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
    >>>
    

For some reason the arrow keys and the delete key don't work:

**delete:**

    
    
    >>> x^H^H^H
    

**up arrow:**

    
    
    >>> x^[[A^[[A
    

etc...

How can I make these work?


Answer: The basic problem is that your Python installation was likely not compiled
with the `readline` library. You can confirm this by trying to import the
`readline` module:

    
    
    import readline
    

You should get an error when you import if `readline` is not present.

If this is the case, there's not much you can do other than recompile Python
with the `readline` library, if you can.

