Python 3.12 on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Why the cloudimg image

cloudimg pins the interpreter to the release the distribution security team supports for the life of the platform, rather than a newer build from a third party repository that would sit outside that coverage, and the build refuses to continue if the interpreter is not exactly the pinned release or if any outside package repository has been added. The protection that stops installs from damaging the system interpreter is deliberately left intact, so the workstation teaches the correct habit instead of quietly breaking it. Every installed package on the image, direct and indirect, is audited against its real licence artifact rather than a badge, and the resulting table ships on the image alongside the licence and notice files themselves; the audit refuses to pass a package whose licence cannot be identified. The image runs no network service at all: the only listener on a fresh instance is SSH, there is no console to secure and no default credential exists anywhere, because there is nothing to log in to. One command, cloudimg python selftest, builds a real native extension from source, runs it, checks the number it computes, runs a test suite against it and then compiles a third party package from source, so you can confirm the machine works before you trust it with your own code. Every deployment ships fully patched, with a paired deploy guide and 24/7 cloudimg support.