gnome-terminal won't run with python 3.7.3, but it will with python 3.6.8

[Jay Sevison]

For quite some time, I've been battling with a problem where my gnome-terminal won't run.

I have finally isolated it down to Python 3.7.3.

When my symlink for python3 points to python 3.7.3, I cannot get gnome-terminal to run.
When I point my symlink for python3 to python 3.6.8, gnome-terminal runs fine.

I have not tried versions between python 3.6.8 and python 3.7.3, but I have narrowed it down all the way.

Steps for me to reproduce...starting with symlink python3->python 3.6.8
Attempt to run gnome-terminal from favorites bar. It runs fine.
Keep the gnome-terminal open
From within gnome-terminal:

  $ sudo rm /usr/bin/python3
  $ sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python3.7 /usr/bin/python3

Now attempt to run gnome-terminal from the favorites bar...the mouse pointer spins, indicating that it is trying to run gnome-terminal...after a short time, the mouse pointer stops spinning, but gnome-terminal does NOT start.

Now, from the open gnome-terminal do the following steps:
   $ sudo rm /usr/bin/python3
   $ sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python3.6 /usr/bin/python3

Now attempt to run gnome-terminal from the favorites bar...it runs fine.

I have switched the python3 symlink between python 3.7.3 and python 3.6.8 many times at this point and I'm always able to reproduce the above.

Feel free to email me if you have questions.

Best regards,

--Jay Sevison

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
Package: gnome-terminal 3.28.2-1ubuntu1~18.04.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.15.0-64.73-generic 4.15.18
Uname: Linux 4.15.0-64-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.7
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sun Sep 29 20:31:45 2019
InstallationDate: Installed on 2019-09-27 (2 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS "Bionic Beaver" - Release amd64 (20180426)
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnome-terminal
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and trying to help make Ubuntu better.

However, it seems that you are not using a software package provided by the official Ubuntu repositories, or packages provided for your release.

Because of this the Ubuntu project may not support or fix your particular bug.

If you are interested in learning more about software repositories and Ubuntu, check https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Repositories.

The link https://packages.ubuntu.com/search?suite=all&searchon=names&keywords=python3 shows python3 3.7 is used by Ubuntu 19.04 (disco) and is not the supported python3 (3.6) provided and supported for 18.04 (bionic).