[Matplotlib-users] Build error; Matplotlib 1.4.0 on Ubuntu 12.04, Python 3.2

[John L. <joh...@sb...>]

Hi folks,

I am trying to install Matplotlib 1.4.0 on an older laptop, running 
Ubuntu 12.04.  I am committed to Python 3.  In the standard Ubuntu 
repositories, python3-matplotlib (of any version) is unavailable until 
Ubuntu 13.04.

My first instinct would be to upgrade to a more current Ubuntu 
revision.  However, when I tried to upgrade Ubuntu, I received a warning 
that the Unity3D GUI was probably too heavy-weight for my machine.

I have read the matplotlib 1.4.0 documentation and, according to the 
dependencies information contained there, it looks like I should be able 
to get matplotlib 1.4.0 to run on my machine if I take the trouble to 
install the dependencies manually.  I have done this before, on other 
machines.

I thought that I followed the directions 
(http://matplotlib.org/users/installing.html) correctly.  I believe that 
I have installed all the required dependencies, and I have even 
installed some of the optional ones I do not need.  Something is still 
wrong.  Here's my latest build error log from the console:

xxxx@xxxxxxxxxx:~/Desktop/matplotlib-1.4.0$ python3 setup.py build
============================================================================
Edit setup.cfg to change the build options

BUILDING MATPLOTLIB
             matplotlib: yes [1.4.0]
                 python: yes [3.2.3 (default, Feb 27 2014, 21:33:50)  [GCC
                         4.6.3]]
               platform: yes [linux2]

REQUIRED DEPENDENCIES AND EXTENSIONS
                  numpy: yes [version 1.6.1]
                    six: yes [using six version 1.7.3]
               dateutil: yes [using dateutil version 2.0]
                tornado: yes [using tornado version 2.1]
              pyparsing: yes [using pyparsing version 2.0.2]
                  pycxx: yes [Official versions of PyCXX are not compatible
                         with Python 3.x.  Using local copy]
                 libagg: yes [pkg-config information for 'libagg' could not
                         be found. Using local copy.]
Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "setup.py", line 154, in <module>
     result = package.check()
   File "/home/john/Desktop/matplotlib-1.4.0/setupext.py", line 940, in 
check
     if 'No such file or directory\ngrep:' in version:
TypeError: argument of type 'NoneType' is not iterable


The "required dependencies and extensions" section appears to be 
incomplete.  I am expecting to see the installer check for freetype and 
png next.  It never gets there.

A Python TypeError is being generated. My first thought would be that I 
have a Py2/Py3 compatibility issue, and I would immediately think of the 
_six_ package as the source of the problem.  But maybe it's something else?

Any advice would be appreciated.  Thanks.