[SciPy-user] scipy itpython and debian

[Robert Kern]

Samuel GARCIA wrote:
> Sorry if it is not the good place,
> 
> I have a debian testing (etch) , I use the python-matplotlib and 
> python-ipythonn official debian package.
> For numpy and scipy I build them from SVN. Everythings seems to works. I 
> don't install the old scipy debian package.
> 
> My problem is when I upgrade with apt-get updgrade. I have something 
> like that :
> 
> Paramétrage de debconf (1.5.2) ...
> Compiling 
> /usr/lib/python2.3/site-packages/scipy/maxentropy/examples/conditionalexample2.py 
> ...
>   File 
> "/usr/lib/python2.3/site-packages/scipy/maxentropy/examples/conditionalexample2.py", 
> line 53
>     samplespace_index = dict((x, i) for i, x in enumerate(samplespace))
>                                       ^
> SyntaxError: invalid syntax

This is Python 2.4 syntax that should not be there, even in examples. We are 
trying to maintain 2.3 compatibility. Sorry, Ed.  :-)

> For the moment the solution is to remove scipy and numpy and rebuild 
> them after.
> 
> 2 questions :
> - is there an easier way to upgrade without interaction with scipy ?

Don't put non-Debian files in Debian-managed directories like /usr/lib/. Use 
/usr/local/. You can make distutils install to 
/usr/local/lib/python/2.3/site-packages/ by adding the following lines to 
~/.pydistutils.cfg:

   [install]
   prefix=/usr/local

I think some recent versions of Debian have this set by default.

> - is there an unofficial debian repository for scipy and numpy while 
> waiting for the official new scipy debian package ?

Not that I know of. Andrew Straw has an Ubuntu repository with new packages. 
It's possible that the source packages might work for Debian with minimal 
modification.

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
  that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
  an underlying truth."
   -- Umberto Eco