[Matplotlib-users] Hints for installing matplotlib-0.71 on FC3

[Tom L. <lo...@as...>]

Hi folks-

I had some trouble installing matplotlib on a machine running 
Fedora Core 3 and Python 2.3.4.  I eventually got it to work,
and thought I'd pass on my experiences in case (1) they might
be helpful to other FC3 users, and (2) I may have overlooked
something that an FC3 expert can point out.

I should note that I have two Pythons on this machine; Fedora's
is in /usr/bin, and I keep the one I use myself in /usr/local/bin,
so I can update it without fear of interfering with Fedora's
Python (standard Redhat/Fedora procedure, I believe).

Here's the symptom: "python setup.py build" always quits
as follows:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -O3 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -I/usr/local/include -I/usr/include
-Isrc -Iagg22/include -I. -I/usr/local/include -I/usr/include -I/usr/local/include/freetype2 -I/usr/include/freetype2
-Isrc/freetype2 -Iagg22/include/freetype2 -I./freetype2 -I/usr/local/include/freetype2 -I/usr/include/freetype2
-I/usr/local/include -I/usr/include -I/usr/include/pygtk-2.0 -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include
-I/usr/include/gtk-2.0 -I/usr/lib/gtk-2.0/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -I/usr/include/atk-1.0 -I/usr/include/pango-1.0
-I/usr/include/freetype2 -I/usr/include/freetype2/config -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include
-I/usr/local/include/python2.3 -c src/_gtkagg.cpp -o build/temp.linux-i686-2.3/src/_gtkagg.o
cc1plus: warning: command line option "-Wstrict-prototypes" is valid for Ada/C/ObjC but not for C++
In file included from /usr/local/include/python2.3/Python.h:8,
                 from /usr/include/pygtk-2.0/pygobject.h:5,
                 from src/_gtkagg.cpp:8:
/usr/local/include/python2.3/pyconfig.h:850:1: warning: "_POSIX_C_SOURCE" redefined
In file included from /usr/include/string.h:26,
                 from /usr/lib/gcc/i386-redhat-linux/3.4.2/../../../../include/c++/3.4.2/cstring:51,
                 from src/_gtkagg.cpp:1:
/usr/include/features.h:150:1: warning: this is the location of the previous definition
In file included from src/_gtkagg.cpp:8:
/usr/include/pygtk-2.0/pygobject.h:140: error: expected `,' or `...' before "typename"
/usr/include/pygtk-2.0/pygobject.h:147: error: expected `,' or `...' before "typename"
error: command 'gcc' failed with exit status 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This looks like a problem with the pytgtk installation.  So I tried installing
pygtk from source.

First I tried the latest/greatest version, 2.5.3, just posted on the pygtk site.
It requires a newer version of the GTK+ libraries than is included in FC3.
I tried installing these (first GLib, then Pango, ATK and GTK+) but 
couldn't get past GLib.  By default these install in /usr/local.  FC3 comes
with them in /usr.  What little I could find online indicates that it is
a BAD THING to have a newer version sitting in /usr/local, and that the
best procedure is to stick with the current version or install any updates
from RPMs.  (It was not recommended that one overwrite the FC3 installation
via ./configure --prefix=/usr.)  I could not find FC3 RPMs for the latest GTK+, 
so I gave up on that, and deleted all the GTK stuff I had installed in /usr/local.

Next I tried the previous stable version of pygtk, 2.4.1.  The install
went fine, but a subsequent attempt at installing matplotlib duplicated
the problem noted above.  However, pygtk installs into /usr/local by
default, and FC3 comes with it in /usr, and matplotlib was having a problem
with the /usr version.  (Sure enough, a "diff" shows the newer version
I had in /usr/local has pygobject.h modified.)  So I *reinstalled* 2.4.1
into /usr using

# ./configure --prefix=/usr

Now matplotlib builds fine.  I have copies of pygtk in both /usr and
/usr/local; I'm not sure if that will cause me problems.  As root,
my shell runs /usr/local/bin/python; I suspect /usr/bin/python may
have an incompatible pygtk site-package at this point, but I haven't
pursued this since I don't use the FC3 python version myself.

If FC3 experts out there can identify a problem with this procedure,
please let me know!

Thanks,
Tom Loredo


-------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/